H2O: Second Generation
by liveonpurpose
Summary: Charlie, Rikki and Zane's 20 year old son, has started to notice some... changes about himself. Changes that start taking place whenever he touches water. What happens when he finds out an enormous secret? And how will everyone handle the return of someone they thought they'd never see again? Someone determined to prove that mermaids exist? This story is about the 2nd generation.
1. The Beginning

Charlie Bennett blinked his brown eyes several times, taking in his surroundings through a sleepy haze. He clumsily reached for his blaring alarm clock, fumbling around until he found the button to silence it. He exhaled, sinking back into his pillow as he stifled a yawn.

"Charlie!" His father, Zane, shouted up the stairs to him. "C'mon, you're going to be late for work!"

Charlie groaned audibly as he stretched in the bed, his toes hanging several inches off of the mattress. He was tall and lanky, like his father, but he had his mother, Rikki's, curly blonde hair.

"Charlie Bennett…" This time his father's voice was drawing closer. A moment later, Charlie heard a knock on his bedroom door.

"I'm coming, I'm _coming_." Charlie called sleepily, pulling himself up to sit on the edge of the bed. "I'll be ready in five minutes, Dad." He sighed as he stood, working out the kinks for a moment before looking around the room.

Charlie pulled on a pair of khaki pants and his blue uniform shirt for his job at the local marine park. He'd been lucky to get a position there, (as his parents were constantly reminding him.) The park had been open for forever, it seemed. His parents had even worked there off and on when they were his age.

Charlie quickly ran a comb through his hair, brushed his teeth, and tied on his tennis shoes, checking the time. He'd make it, but it'd be a close one.

Zane was adding milk to his freshly poured cup of coffee as Charlie stumbled down the steps. "Morning," He called. "Hurry _up_ , you're going to be late."

"I heard you the first time. And the second." Charlie grabbed a mug from the cupboard closest to him. "Where's mom?"

Zane sighed, his eyes dropping down to his spoon as he slowly stirred his coffee. "She left for work a while ago."

"Ah." Charlie swallowed, keeping his tone light. "She, uh, left before you woke up again?"

"No." Zane answered tersely before clearing his throat. He rolled his newspaper tightly before shoving it under his left arm. "Get to work." He stalked away to his home office, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Charlie gritted his teeth, shaking his head as he tossed his full cup of coffee back into the sink. He just wanted to get out the door. His parents seemed to think that they could fight like cats and dogs and somehow he was never supposed to notice.

No, Charlie mentally corrected himself as he scooped up his car keys. They _didn't_ fight like cats and dogs. They didn't seem to speak to each other at _all_ these days. They seemed to be bickering constantly, but they would never talk to him about it at all. They just pretended everything was fine, and that things were always perfect in the household. It had been this way for the last five or so years, but Charlie couldn't come up with a reason for it. They'd been so in love when he'd been younger. Then, one day, they'd started having long talks alone in their bedroom. Every night, for hours, the pair would make an excuse to leave Charlie in the living room while they 'chatted' in their room. After a few weeks of that, they'd begun leaving the house together for long periods of time without him. They'd told him they were just spending time with his Aunts and Uncles, but Charlie knew there had to be more to it than that. It was shortly after that that his parents had just stopped talking. Not any more than they absolutely had to, anyway.

Charlie felt a familiar feeling wash over him as he started his car. It was a blend of guilt, failure, and glumness. He was twenty years old and his parents still treated him like a child. His father had knocked on his bedroom door to wake him up for work, for god's sake.

"I've _got_ to get my own place." Charlie turned up the radio as he muttered to himself. He was the only 20 year old he knew who still lived with his parents. It wasn't that he hadn't tried to move out before, in fact, he'd tried many times with little luck. His parents had gone all uber-protective on him, and refused to let him move out of the house. Well, his father had, anyway. His mother had seemed like she might come around sooner or later, but not Dad. His answer remained always the same, never changing.

"Absolutely not. He is just fine right here. He's not moving out. Not yet."

Those same words had been uttered every time Charlie had brought up the subject. His parents were beyond over protective and always had been. He loved them very much, but he didn't know any other 20 year olds whose parents _still_ wouldn't let them move out of the house.

Then again, Charlie reminded himself, ALL of his parents' friends had been over protective with their kids too, his cousins. Well, not blood-relative cousins, but they'd all grown up together and certainly felt like family.

There were his Aunts, Cleo and Bella, and his uncles, Will and Lewis. Cleo and Lewis had been married forever, and their three daughters, Ellie, Lucy, and Callie, had been playmates of Charlie's until Lucy had gone off to college five years ago. Cleo and Lewis had done everything they could think of to keep her at home, but Lucy had worked hard, saved up money, and gotten a scholarship to school. She was going whether they liked it or not, and they'd eventually given in, reluctantly. Ellie had moved out 2 years earlier, though Cleo and Lewis hadn't seemed as concerned about her as they had her younger sister.

Charlie remembered how hard Cleo and Lewis had fought to keep her at home. After Lucy had moved out, Cleo and Lewis had become even more watchful of Callie. Charlie didn't see her much anymore, and they rarely spoke.

It was a shame, Charlie thought. He missed hanging out with the Sertori's. There was a time when they knew him better than anyone else did. They'd spent countless summers together, and he and Callie had been the best of friends. Those were the days…

Charlie made it to the marine park with less than three minutes to spare until his shift started.

"You're cutting it close, Charlie." Laurie, the manager of the park, said dryly as Charlie punched in.

"Sorry Laurie." Charlie hastily tied on his apron as he threw a feeding a bucket onto his arm. He grabbed another feeding bucket, heavy with fish, before pushing his way out of the employee room and out onto the floor. He was caught off guard by a great smell in the air. He raised his face to the sky, breathing in the aroma. The kitchen must be fixing something new, he decided. It would be a nice change from the lukewarm mush they usually got, at least.

"Hey you." A tap on his shoulder made him jump.

"You snuck up on me…" Charlie grinned as he turned to his girlfriend, Kelli, who was standing right behind him. He reached for her waist, but she took a quick step backwards.

"Here, hold this." The bleach-blonde shoved her pocketbook into Charlie's already-full arms. "I just need to touch up my makeup before my shift starts."

"Seriously? Before you start work?" Charlie juggled the seafood buckets, trying to keep the expensive bag from getting splashed with fishy slime. Again, he got a whiff of whatever was cooking. "Do you smell that?"

"I just smell that disgusting slop bucket." Kelly wrinkled her nose as she applied a fresh coat of lipstick. "Are you seriously on chum duty _again_?"

" _Feeding_ duty." Charlie said defensively. "And I requested it. I like it."

"You'll have to shower before we go out tonight." Kelli rolled her eyes as she snapped the compact shut. "You always stink of fish after you work the feeding shift. It's like the stench soaks right into your pores."

"You love it." Charlie smirked playfully, leaning forward with his lips pursed.

"Yeah, not so much." Kelli waved Charlie away, shaking her head. "Call me before you pick me up, ok?" She snagged her bag out of Charlie's hands as she spun on her heel.

"You got it." Charlie felt a familiar feeling of disappointment as he watched her head towards the gift shop, where she worked as a cashier.

When he'd been younger he'd imagined what it would be like to date the perfect girl. To him, Kelli Reynolds had always been the absolute definition of the word. He'd admired Kelli from afar all through school, though she didn't spare so much as a breath for him. She had been way out of his league all through school, and she knew it.

Then, he'd joined the swim team. It was the most successful team at their school, and spots on the team were hugely competitive. Making the team had been an instant boost to his popularity. Suddenly, he had more friends than he'd ever had. Everyone seemed to know his name. It was different, new, and from then on it had only been a matter of time.

They'd gotten together at the end of his senior year. At that point it had seemed inevitable. She was the head cheerleader, he the captain of the swim team. She was voted Homecoming Queen, he King. Add to that the fact that they were two of the only kids in their class not going away to college, and it had just made sense.

They'd been together just over a year now. At least, Charlie supposed it had been that long. He'd never really asked Kelli out, he remembered as he tossed fish into the dolphin pen.

It had been just before graduation. Kelli had marched through the sea of people crowding the cafeteria. "You and I, we're dating now, k?" She'd said simply before heading back to her table of girlfriends. He'd given a confused sort of nod as she walked away. They'd been together ever since.

When Charlie had pictured his future, he'd always pictured himself being married to a girl he could call his best friend, someone he could talk to about anything. Kelli was beautiful, but there wasn't much beneath the surface. She was cold, and more than a little needy, but Charlie had accepted that the perfect relationship he'd imagined was nothing but a story from a children's book. After all, most of his friends were insanely jealous of him, what did he really have to complain about?

Another wave of that strangely amazing smell hit him square in the face. "What _is_ that?" He asked aloud, toying with the last fish in the bucket. He held it up in the air. "Alright, guys, I've got one more…" He called out to the hungry dolphins, leaning out over the water.

Another blast of aroma hit his nostrils.

"Wha…?" He took a step towards the door, lowering the last fish to examine it closely. "No way…" Suddenly, he realized just what he'd been smelling all morning.

It was the fish. The fish in his hand.

"Ugh." He chucked the slimy thing into the water, wiping his hand on his jeans to get the gunk off. Shaking his head, he made his way for the exit, still trying to figure out what Laurie had done to the feed fish to make it smell so very good.

* * *

Charlie pulled his car into Kelli's driveway after their date that night, checking the time. It was only 9:30, early to be getting home.

"Tonight was fun." Charlie swung his car door shut as he walked her to her apartment. "Want to put in a movie?" He reached for the doorknob.

"Nah, not tonight." Kelli said dismissively. "I have that big interview tomorrow, I want to get to sleep."

Charlie nodded, remembering that Kelli was being interviewed for a possible college scholarship the next day. "Y'know…" He raised an eyebrow. "I could… relax you…" He took a step towards her, reaching one hand around Kelli's waist to pull her in to him, his hand hot on the small of her back.

Kelli sighed, closing her eyes as he used his free hand to gently brush the hair from her neck before leaning in to kiss her neck, just below her jaw line.

"Relax me, huh?" Kelli smirked as she reached a mischievous hand down to Charlie's belt buckle, making his pulse pick up. Slowly, her hand travelled down, reaching until it just brushed over the growing outline in Charlie's pants. He gasped as he felt her fingers tighten around him, beginning to lose himself in the sensation.

"Sorry, hun. I need to get to sleep."

The warm touch was gone. By the time Charlie had pulled his eyes back open, Kelli had already unlocked her front door and was turning back around to face him. "See you tomorrow, sweetie." She gave him a quick peck on the lips before slamming the door shut in his face.

Charlie groaned, adjusting the waistline of his pants with a wince. It had been weeks since they'd had sex, though it felt much longer. He hadn't actually expected Kelli to go for it tonight, but he'd figured it couldn't hurt to try. He'd been wrong.

Taking in a long, deep breath, he dropped his head back to look at the night sky as he walked back to his car. He was ready to get home and hit the sack.

His phone lit up from where it rested on his passenger seat. Praying it wasn't Kelli needing a favor, Charlie flipped it around so he could ready the caller ID.

' _Callie_ '

Charlie frowned as he held the phone to his ear. "Callie, hey…" He didn't know quite what to say next. It's been months since they'd had a one-on-one conversation, they hardly even made eye contact when they'd been in the same room lately. He hadn't realized just how much he'd missed her until now, he thought.

"Hey, Charlie." Callie's familiar voice came through the earpiece. "How've ya been?"

Charlie chuckled lightly. She sounded just the same as she always had, and it brought back some of the best memories from his childhood. "Just fine. How about you? What's up?" He hoped his curiosity was evident enough to be picked up on.

"What, can't a girl call her not-related cousin at exactly 9:41 PM on a Thursday night just to see how he's doing?" She was never at a lack of self-assuredness, his cousin Callie.

She was two years younger than him, but at one point they'd been the closest of friends. She was always quick with a joke and was more-than-fluent in sarcasm. Charlie had always felt like he could trust her with anything, and he'd told her many a secret when they'd been kids.

"It's good to hear your voice." Charlie heard himself say. "I mean, it's good to hear from you."

"Y'know, your voice isn't exactly making my ears bleed either." Callie was obviously grinning as she spoke, though, of course, Charlie couldn't see her. "You, uh, you been doing alright?"

"Sure." Charlie nodded. "So, was anything going on, or…"

"I was just calling to say hello, aloha, all that good stuff." Callie answered quickly. "But it's late. I'll let you get going."

"Oh, ok then." Charlie masked his disappointment. He wouldn't have minded spending a little bit more time catching up with Callie, they'd only been speaking for a few seconds He sighed.. "Later, crocodile."

Callie laughed. "In a while, alligator."

Charlie chuckled as he dropped his phone into his lap. The pair had exchanged the same silly goodbye since before he could remember.

Charlie's smile turned into a frown as he turned into his driveway. Tonight there were three cars in the drive instead of the usual one. They were familiar, one belonging to Cleo and Lewis and the other to Aunt Bella, but what were they all doing over so late at night? On a work night?

"Charlie!" Rikki jumped to her feet as he walked inside. "You're home! Everyone was, um, just leaving. We were just… catching up."

"No sweat." Charlie waved in greeting to Cleo, Lewis, and Bella, who all appeared to have just been in the middle of a serious discussion. Lewis managed a weak smile at him before dropping his eyes back to the carpet.

Charlie shifted his weight awkwardly. "Sorry, did I… interrupt something?"

"No." Zane spoke from the side of the room, where he stood leaning against the door frame. "We were just spending a little time."

"Well, fell free to keep spending." Charlie waved again as he headed for the steps. "I'm headed to bed."

He paused when he reached the banister, turning back to shoot a look at the oddly quiet room. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. They were all just staring at the floor, tension clear on each of their faces. Charlie hurried up the steps to his bedroom, hoping that the drama would be resolved by the next morning. This wasn't the first time his parents and their friends had had a 'secret' meeting. Charlie shook his head. They all led normal, regular lives. What did they have to be so secretive about?

The room was totally silent as Charlie walked up the stairs, no one moving a muscle until his bedroom door swung closed behind him.

"I still think we should tell him." Lewis spoke quietly, his eyes serious and downcast.

"And I think we shouldn't." Zane shot back, his eyes piercing each of his friends' in turn. "And I'm done discussing it. Not when we have so much to deal with."

"I can't believe she's back in our lives." Rikki wrapped her arms tightly around herself.

Several seconds of silence passed. This time it was Cleo who broke it.

"We'll call Lucy. She needs to be aware of the situation." She looked to Lewis. "Do we tell Callie?"

"No." Zane spoke up. "Need to know basis. She doesn't need to know yet. Did you forget our agreement?"

"How could we?" Bella rolled her eyes as she stood. "Goodnight, guys. Everyone be careful in the water."

"Mermaid club meeting adjourned." Lewis said sarcastically.


	2. Changes in the Water

"Hey kiddo, hand me that whisk?" Rikki gestured to the other end of the kitchen counter as Charlie thumped down the steps the next morning.

"Sure." Charlie obliged before pulling up a chair to the kitchen table, rubbing his eyes as he sat down. "You, uh, have fun with your friends last night?"

"What?" Rikki blinked. "Oh, right, yeah. Of course. It was good to see everyone."

"Where was Uncle Will?" Charlie reached for the pitcher of orange juice, pouring himself a tall glass.

"Oh, out with his latest girlfriend." Rikki shook her head. "I don't remember her name… Tori? Tina?"

"I don't keep track anymore." Charlie polished off his glass of juice before standing. "I have swim practice at noon, I'll see him there, I'll ask."

"Toni, I think that's it" His mother didn't seem to have heard him; she was preoccupied with the stove.

"Is Dad around?" Looking around the kitchen, there were telltale signs that Zane had already been downstairs, but he was nowhere in sight.

"He's out." His mother's tone changed from chipper to terse in an instant.

"Of course he is." Charlie sighed as he walked to the other side of the room for his keys.

"Charlie…" Rikki stopped cooking, turning to face her son, a pained expression clear on her face. She spoke quickly, almost like she'd had to work up the courage. "Listen, your father and I…"

"I know." Charlie held a hand up, stopping her as his stomach clenched painfully. "You really don't need to explain, mom. I know you and Dad are having trouble."

"No, it's not just that-" Rikki shook her head. "I mean, we _are_ really sorry about all the tension, but there's something more than that to talk to you about, something very serious."

Divorce. Charlie's heart sank as his pulse quickened. Sure, they'd been having trouble, but weren't they going to try to work things out? Therapy, something? He wasn't ready for the two of them to split up, not now. He felt like he'd been punched.

"Ok, Mom." He yanked the front door open, anxious to get out of the house. "We'll talk later, k?" He didn't wait to hear her response before slamming the door shut behind him and practically jogging to his car.

* * *

"Charlie, warm-up of 20 laps." Will Alexander, Charlie's swimming coach called across the pool as he emerged from the locker room. "Get going, I want to see some distance training today. Work on that breath control."

"That's what we did yesterday-" Charlie groaned.

"Suck it up. That's why it's called _practice_." Will waved Charlie towards the launching blocks, shaking his head as he made a note on his clipboard.

Will had been Charlie's swimming coach for the past nine years, ever since Charlie had announced he'd wanted to take up free diving. At first, both of his parents, (as per usual,) had been dead set against the idea, but they'd given in when Will had offered to take on the job of training Charlie personally. They didn't compete; Charlie wasn't interested in the competitive aspect of the sport, just the adventure. Will knew _so much_ about the ocean, where the best free dive locations were, secrets to grab the attention of different kinds of rare fish, swimming with him as your guide was nothing short of incredible and Charlie loved it.

Soon after, Will had gotten a coaching job at the local community college, and Charlie had joined the team the moment he'd gotten out of high school. He still didn't much care about racing or competing for depth, but the extra training at the college pool made it worth it. His parents _hated_ when he raced, but they attended each and every match.

After warm up, Will gave Charlie his training regimen for the day. The first several were a piece of cake, but over time Charlie felt his muscles fatiguing. He pushed himself, barely able to put one arm in front of the other as he slowly completed the last lap. He gasped for air as he pulled himself up to his elbows, resting his forehead on the concrete in front of him.

"Better than yesterday." Will noted as he marked it down. "One minute break, then I want ten more laps."

"On top of the last 50?" Charlie complained. "C'mon, I need at least five minutes, man. In fact, ten would be better." Charlie panted, rolling his head to relax his neck.

"One minute." Will replied. "I'll count you in, hit the block."

Mentally cursing at his coach and (he reminded himself,) his friend, Charlie forced himself out of the water and resumed his starting position, sucking in huge lungfuls of oxygen.

"And… go!" Will shouted.

Charlie pushed off hard, almost gasping as his body sliced through the water.

There was something about the water this time, something… different than it'd felt earlier. Charlie flexed his muscles, beyond rejuvenated as he pushed himself further, suddenly beyond comfortable in the water. He used all the energy he could muster trying to put his finger on what had made the water feel so… _different._ It was the only word he could come up with to describe it. The water on his skin, it seemed almost hot and cold at the same time. He loved the way it felt as it rippled over him while he powered through, almost as if it were gently massaging every one of his muscles.

Charlie made a u-turn without pushing off from the opposite wall and shot back towards where he'd started, still enjoying the amazing sensations that were flickering across his skin as he swam. He felt his face spread into a smile. Swimming through the water felt like it was powering him up, almost. He felt stronger as he kicked, like a battery recharging. He turned once again, heading towards the opposite wall with enthusiasm, letting his arms fall to his sides as he kicked harder. It almost felt like he was flying, he hardly needed to work to shoot down the lane.

Suddenly, Charlie's eyes shot open wide. He'd swam almost three laps now… and he hadn't come up for air _once_ yet. He needed air, and he needed it right _now_.

Coughing and sputtering, Charlie kicked his way to the closest wall to him, feeling all of a sudden like his lungs were going to explode right out of his chest. Panic set in just before he gripped the wall, his heart pounding hard. He hung onto the concrete tightly, panting as a pair of feet appeared before his eyes.

"Are you alright?" Will bent down, a concerned look on his face. "What happened out there?"

"Sorry." Charlie choked out, still trying to gasp in oxygen. "I just, um.., I guess I just forgot to breathe, that's all."

Will remained oddly silent as Charlie pulled himself out of the water, still working to catch his breath. "You were in there an awfully long time…" He said eventually, his brow furrowed.

"Yeah, um…" Charlie reached for his towel, tossing it over his shoulder. "I dunno, I just… didn't need air yet, y'know?" He wasn't even sure he understood what he was saying, he'd never gone so long in the water without breathing before, not swimming at that speed.

Charlie rubbed the water out of his eyes before turning to look up at Will, who still seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. "I guess we've been getting in some really good diving training lately. Must be making my lungs good and strong, right?"

"Yeah." Will seemed oddly serious, though Charlie couldn't see why. He stood, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why don't you get out of here." Will gave a light shrug. "You, eh, obviously don't need the extra practice, huh?" He gave a humorless laugh, his eyes still worried.

"Sure, ok." Charlie's heart was finally starting to slow. "It'll give me a chance to hang out with Kelli, so that works out just fine-"

"Charlie-" Will caught his attention, shoving his hands into his pockets as he glanced at his shoes. "Have your parents… talked to you yet?" He walked alongside Charlie as he made his way towards the lockers, running a hand through his curly brown hair while shoving his other hand into his pants pocket.

Charlie clenched his jaw slightly before answering. "Yeah, um, not yet. But it's no big deal, I knew it was coming."

"Did you?" Will sounded more than a little surprised. "Who told you?"

"I mean," Charlie shrugged. "It's not much of a shock, I could tell, there've been plenty of signs, I guess." He toweled off as he spoke. "Hey, how come you weren't at the house the other night? The rest of the gang was over, and late."

"Were they?" Will raised an eyebrow, momentarily distracted. "Who, Bella?"

"Yeah, Bella. And Cleo, and Lewis, and my Mom and Dad." Charlie added.

"I was probably out. With Teri." Will said sheepishly. "Things are still pretty… awkward with Bella."

"It's been five years…" Charlie's voice trailed off as they reached the locker room door.

"Yes, it has." Will stopped. "It's just not been long enough yet, I guess."

Charlie paused as well, before clapping Will on the shoulder. "Later, coach." He pulled his phone out of his gym bag, texting to let Kelly know that he could pick her up in thirty minutes. He sat for a moment in his running car, right outside the pool house, a memory suddenly hitting him right in the chest.

Why had the water felt so amazing during that last swim? Was it really just the training paying off? He'd felt so powerful, so strong… He'd never felt anything like that before… and he really wanted to feel it again.

Will waited for Charlie to pull away before grabbing his phone. "Hey Rik." He spoke quietly. "It's looking like it _is_ going to happen. And I'm betting it's going to be soon."

* * *

"I think you bought half the store." Charlie joked as he lugged bag upon bag into Kelli's house, following her upstairs to her bedroom.

"I cannot believe I waited so long to try out that store that just opened in the mall, it totally had everything I needed." Kelly immediately began rooting through the bag closest to her on the bed.

"You needed… this?" Charlie pulled a bright pink rhinestoned belt out of the nearest boutique bag.

"Hello? Duh." Kelli snatched the belt out of his hands before whipping open her closet door. "It goes absolutely perfectly with my tan jeans." She toyed with her hair as she compared the colors, pleased with the results.

"Riiiiight." Charlie reached for her waist, pulling her in close to him. He gave her a quick kiss on the lips before opening his mouth to speak. "Y'know…" He chose his words hesitantly, taking the time to plan out exactly what he was going to say. "Something really, um, _weird_ happened today at swim practice."

"Oh yeah?" Kelli snapped open her compact, checking her eyeliner in the mirror.

"Yeah." Charlie took a seat on her bed, smoothing her purple comforter with his hand as he composed his thoughts. "It was the strangest thing… I was swimming. And the water, it felt… weird, I guess. I didn't need to breathe for a long time, and I was swimming _really_ fast-"

"Did you have swim practice today?" Kelly began curling her eyelashes, her eyes glued on the mirror.

"What? Charlie frowned. "Yes, that's what I just…" He paused, sighing. "Said."

He and Kelly didn't talk much, and he realized it didn't feel right to. She wasn't even pretending to listen to him. "You know," He looked down at his feet. "It was nothing, really."

"Okay." Kelli snapped her compact closed and reached for her hairbrush. "Are you hanging out, or…?"

"No." Charlie stood abruptly. "Actually, I think I'll head on out."

"Don't let Skittles run out when you open the front door, k?" Kelli brushed her hair briskly, her eyes still locked on the mirror in front of her. "My Dad is always leaving that door open and letting that poor cat out, she's going to hit by a car one day…"

Charlie gently closed the door behind him, relatively sure that Kelli hadn't even noticed him leaving. He couldn't try to explain things to her, she'd never understand. He wasn't even sure _he_ understood.

Charlie was preoccupied, lost in his thoughts as he drove the short distance to his home. He shut off his car engine, but couldn't bring himself to go inside.

He didn't want to talk to his parents. They would want to discuss the divorce, and he wasn't up for it right now. It was just too much.

Charlie laughed humorlessly to himself. All this time, he'd wanted his parents to talk to him about what was going on with them. Now they wanted to talk and all of a sudden it was him that wasn't ready.

Making up his mind, Charlie tossed his keys and phone onto the car seat beside him and jogged around his house, kicking off his shoes, and heading towards the beach. Something had happened that day in the pool. Something he couldn't explain. Would it also happen in the ocean? Did he even want it to?

Charlie's pulse quickened as the surf grew closer. He wanted to be in the water; he needed it. He'd never felt this way before. Excitement built in his chest as he watched the waves crashing gently onto the shore.. Suddenly hesitant as he reached the water's edge, he reached out one bare foot and stepped into the frothy surf.

The water felt nice, sure, but it wasn't anything like it had been earlier at swim practice. Not even close.

Disappointed, Charlie walked a few yards out into the open water. He wasn't sure what he'd expected, and he felt a little silly for getting so excited about the same beach he'd gone to every day of his life. He stopped, knee-deep, as his stomach gave a flip. A smile played at the corners of his eyes as his toes sunk down into the wet sand.

It was coming back… Slowly. The electric, all-over tingle started in his toes before travelling up his legs. The sensation intensified as the water lapped at his knees, encouraging him to walk out into the open waves. It wasn't long before he could pick up his feet and tread water. He reared back, then gave a great push off the sandy floor, propelling himself out into the open water. He allowed the current to pull him further out to sea, relaxing as he gave himself over to the pulsing waves.

It was even more incredible now. The salt water felt electrically charged on his skin, almost hot. He felt alive with energy, ready to swim anywhere, no matter how far. He closed his eyes, letting the water carry him. What was this? He'd never felt so… happy. He sank down, the ocean floor wasn't too deep, running his hand through the silky sand. He knew he'd been underwater a long time, which did make him a little nervous, but his lungs didn't protest.

After what had to have been a solid five minutes, he surfaced, shaking water out of his hair before opening his eyes. He raised his right hand to his eyes, standing on the sandy floor. He squinted at his fingers, trying to see what could be possibly causing the sensations he was experiencing.

He watched, mesmerized, as droplets of water rolled off his fingers and dripped into the water. It was beautiful, the way the sun reflected, glittering off the water as it fell from his fingertips and back into the ocean. He scooped up handfuls of water in both hands, just watching it fall back into the rolling sea.

Suddenly, without warning, a surge of energy shot through his hand, hot and sharp. He gasped, shaking his right hand hard as he began pushing himself back to the bank panicking slightly. What was that? Had he been bitten by something? No, what could have bitten him that he wouldn't have seen? He'd been looking right at his hand when it had happened.

Kicking hard, he pulled himself out of the ocean, turning to sit in the tide. He sat Indian style in the shallow water, his eyes locked on his hands. They felt normal now, the jolt of electricity was gone, but… He squinted, sure that his eyes were playing tricks on him. He just couldn't be seeing what he was seeing…

Droplets of water were falling from his outstretched hands and into the water. Charlie frowned, unable to look away.

The water was falling in slow motion. Impossibly slow motion.

He held his hand perfectly still, no more than an inch from his eyes, watching as drops of water formed, then seemed to float back down until they reached the sea. He counted under his breath. "Eight, nine, ten…" It was taking a full ten seconds for the water to fall the two feet into the water. It was beautiful to watch, but impossible.

It couldn't be happening, but… Charlie wiggled his fingers… it _had_ to be. He could see it. What was going on?

Suddenly, a wave of panic set in, deep in his chest. Was something wrong with him? Was he losing his mind? None of this was normal, none of this was right. The water, the electricity, the not needing to _breathe_ , something was seriously wrong. Something was changing, something _in_ him, and he could feel it.

He scrambled to get out of the water, kicking up chunks of wet sand as he ran up the beach. The sand felt hot under his feet as he paused, then dropped onto the dry, hot, floor. He breathed heavily, reaching up to shake the water out of his hair.

He froze, his left hand flat on his head. After a moment his fingers began racing furiously though his hair. His _dry_ hair. Frantically, he ran his hands over his body.

He was completely dry from head to toe. Which wasn't possible, he muttered to himself, because he'd been fully immersed in the ocean not 5 minutes ago. His clothes were hot, as if they'd been baking in the sun. It was as if he'd never even gone swimming, though he knew that wasn't the case. His pulse began to race as he flew to his feet. He couldn't reach the house fast enough.


	3. The Talk

Charlie burst through the back door of his home, kicking sand into the house as he stumbled inside. He slammed the door behind him, leaning on it as he worked to catch his breath.

"Charlie?"

Charlie's eyes popped open, still slightly wild as he looked around the room. His mother and father were both seated at the kitchen table, a mere six or seven feet away from him.

Rikki jumped up from her seat, rushing around the table to her son. "Are you alright? What's the matter?" She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, though her face remained concerned.

"Mom." Charlie took in a long, hard, pull of oxygen, fighting to steady his still-racing heart. "No, um, I'm fine." He swallowed, finally starting to regain his composure. "I just went for a jog… I'm tired." He released a long, steadying breath, resting his hands on his knees.

Zane stood, his eyes darting pointedly to Rikki before zeroing in on Charlie. "We're glad you're home." He nodded his head toward the living room, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Your mother and I need you to take a seat on the couch, Char. We need to talk to you."

"Now? Dad…" Charlie rolled his eyes. He knew he was being whiney and petulant, but too much had happened that day for him to act his age. He didn't want to talk about his parents' impending divorce, he didn't want to talk about what had happened to him out in the water, he just wanted to be alone to sort through everything in private. He pushed past Zane, freezing in his tracks when he reached the doorway.

Cleo and Lewis were already sitting in his living room, apparently waiting for him. What were they doing here? Were they here to help his parents announce their divorce?

"Sit down." Rikki's voice came from behind him. "Please." She gestured to the couch, taking a seat across the room for herself. Cleo and Lewis sat on the loveseat against the adjoining wall, leaving the couch wide open for him.

Clenching his jaw, Charlie angrily dropped down into the couch, joined a moment later by Zane. "Fine." He grumbled. "Let's get this over with."

"Charlie," Rikki began slowly, "You may have been noticing a few… changes lately. Do… do you know what I'm talking about?"

"C'mon, Mom-" Charlie protested.

Rikki raised her voice, continuing. "Funny things happening whenever you touch water?"

Charlie couldn't mask his shock. How could she know about that? He hadn't told a soul. He remained silent, though his eyes narrowed.

Cleo and Lewis shared a meaningful look with one another. "There's something… ah, well, something very important we need to talk to you about, Char." Lewis spoke up gently.

"Aren't we here to discuss my parents' divorce?" Charlie asked weakly.

"Divorce?" Zane shook his head, his eyes closed. "No, son. We are not getting a divorce. I'm sorry if that's what you thought…" His tone softened, becoming almost apologetic. "There's just… this _thing_ that we need to-"

"Talk to me about, I get it." Charlie said uneasily, more worried now than ever. "Go."

Everyone in the room seemed to draw a collective breath as Rikki opened her mouth to speak. "I need to tell you a story, Charlie." She began, pacing the floor slowly as she pieced the words together.

The phone rang loudly, making everyone jump at the unexpected noise.

With a sigh, Zane stood and snatched it from the wall. "It's Will?" He frowned. "Will, what is it? We're in the middle of… what? We can't _right now_ , you get me?" He paused, listening. "And how do you know this?" His eyes darted to Rikki's, who was listening with obvious curiosity. "And does it have to be _now_?"

Charlie spotted the opening and leapt for it. "Hey, if you guys have somewhere to be it's totally fine, I do too." He didn't know exactly what he was doing, he just knew he needed to get out of there.

"No Charlie, we need to talk to-" Rikki stopped as Zane began speaking in a low voice into the phone. She was clearly distracted as she tried to gesture to Zane, who was too preoccupied to notice.

"So we'll talk tonight, ok?" Charlie waved hastily to Cleo and Lewis as he made his way to the front door. "I promise. Tonight." Without giving them the chance to say another word, and knowing full well that he was only delaying the inevitable, Charlie darted out the door and ran to his car.

He drove away slowly, still trying to piece together what had just happened. This wasn't about divorce. His parents knew something. Cleo and Lewis knew something. He was furious with himself for running away, but he couldn't bring himself to turn back. He didn't even know why he'd run out. Didn't he want the answers? Didn't he want to know what was happening to him? He'd just panicked.

Charlie pulled off to the side of the road, breathing heavily. He couldn't go back home, not yet. He awkwardly managed to pull his phone from his pocket, thumbing through it as he looked for the right person to talk to.

" _Callie_."

He muttered the name aloud as it appeared on the screen. For some reason he felt just a little bit calmer as he read it aloud. It felt good to have heard from her last night.

"Callie." He decided, dialing the number almost involuntarily before holding the phone up to his ear. It rang and rang, and he had been just about ready to give up when he heard a familiar voice on the other end of the line.

"Callie? Hey!" He tried his hardest to sound light, natural, though the tightness in his voice gave him away. "Are you around to hang out?"

Twenty minutes later found Charlie walking down along the stretch of beach they used to hang out at as kids, looking for Callie. It wasn't long before he'd spotted her, lounging on a beach blanket in her usual shorts and purple tank top. "Hey, Cal!" He waved, jogging towards her.

She perked up, blinking as she looked around for the voice. "Here!" She sat up on her knees, gesturing for him to sit. "Pull up a piece of beach, slick."

"Hey." He dropped down onto his knees facing her, settling into the warm sand. "Thanks for meeting me."

"No sweat, jet." Callie stretched both arms over her head. "Take a load off, get comfy." She grinned. "Want to grab a swim?"

"No." Charlie answered too quickly, raising one hand to massage his throbbing temple. "Let's just talk… here, ok?"

"Sure thing." Callie rolled her shoulders in a big circle before laying back on her elbows, her long legs stretched out in front of her on the towel.

Charlie sat in silence for several minutes before Callie took in a deep breath and spoke.

"Ok." Her voice was clear over the crashing of the waves. "Spill. What's wrong?"

"Can't a guy call up his not-related cousin at…" He checked his phone. "4:35 just to say hi?" His face betrayed him, and he couldn't quite make his voice sound light or carefree. He sighed. "You always know."

"When something's bothering you?" Callie raised her eyebrows playfully. "Yeah, it's a damn gift."

"Shut up." Charlie smiled genuinely for the first time in hours. He readjusted, laying down on his back with his head resting on Callie's stomach like a pillow.

"Poor baby." Callie said, only teasing a little. "Bad day?"

Charlie's eyes opened, blinded by the beating sun. "Weird day." He said quietly, half-hoping Callie hadn't heard him.

For a while the pair just laid there in silence, both looking up at the sky and breathing deeply. The sun grew hot, almost to a scorch, but neither moved to shield themselves.

Callie spoke finally. "You want to tell me about it?"

Charlie knew instantly that he'd come to the right person. He had always been able to talk to Callie; she always knew when to push and when to let him work up to it.

"I do." Charlie nodded. "But you're going to think I'm losing it."

"Try me." Callie challenged, furrowed her brow.

"Ok… " Charlie took in a deep breath. "It's, well… it's water." He began.

"Alright…" Callie prompted, reaching to grab her drink out of the sand.

"No, listen." Charlie's mind raced as he searched for the right words. "It's really weird, Cal. And I'm not making this up; something is happening to me. It's whenever I touch water, at least, I _think_ it's only happening in the water…" He continued rambling, working up the courage to shoot a look at Callie.

Callie was just staring out at the ocean, not visibly reacting to what he was saying. Her right hand dropped down to Charlie's brown hair, toying with it absently.

"It's really strange…" Charlie continued. "I was swimming today, training, and- get this- I forgot to _breathe_ , Cal. I didn't come up for air for five whole _minutes_ without realizing it. And when I was swimming the water felt _good,_ like it was powering me along, and I know I sound completely insane right now…" He let his voice trail off, closing his eyes tightly as he listened to his own words. He sounded ridiculous.

"Charlie…" Callie began slowly, hesitantly. "Has your mother… um, _talked_ to you yet?"

The hairs on the back of Charlie's neck stood on end at her question. "No." He answered after a moment of thought. He rolled onto his side so that he could face Callie. "How did you know? How does _everyone_ seem to know that my parents need to talk to me? What does that have to do with what's happening to me?" He panted, momentarily out of steam.

Callie looked at him for a long time without saying anything, her eyes examining him. Thoughtfully, she rolled to her stomach, resting her head on her crossed arms without breaking eye contact.

"I shouldn't be the one talking to you about this." Callie tried to keep her tone easy, but the stiffness was evident.

For the first time since all of the bizarre stuff had started, Charlie found himself growing worried. Scared. Was he sick? Did mental illness run in his family? "Do you know what's going on?" He waited impatiently as Callie took her time answering.

"Yes." She answered finally.

Charlie flipped to his elbows, nudging Callie. "So…?"

More silence.

"Callie?"

"Hm?" Callie didn't seem to have noticed his anxiety.

Charlie moved in as close to her as he could. "C'mon, Cal. _Tell me._ "

Calllie's blue eyes met Charlie's, but she pulled back after just a few seconds. "Trust me, dude. You'd never believe me."

" _Try me_." Charlie echoed her words from just a minute ago. He wasn't willing to let her off the hook, not when he was so close to an answer. "Please. Talk to me." He pleaded.

Callie sighed as she pushed herself up to sit cross-legged, mirrored by Charlie. She leaned forward, lowering her voice. "My mom would kill me, I'm not supposed to talk about it. But you are going to get the talk. Soon, too, it's sounds like."

"Now." Charlie crossed his arms, his voice firm.

"You _aren't_ going to believe me." Callie shook her head seriously.

"I swear." Charlie leaned in close, so close he could feel her breath on his face. "I _will_."

"I'm not joking." Callie's voice grew eerily quiet. "This is serious stuff. Like, we're talking old-time, family secret-type stuff. And if I tell you, it's all going to sound like this ridiculous joke because it's _so_ impossible, and you're going to think it's just me messing with you, but it might just be some of the most important information you'll ever hear, and I'm not sure I'm ready for the pressure of telling you something so-"

"Callie, for fuck's sake." Charlie spoke louder than he'd meant to, his exasperation hitting its limit. "Tell me. What's going on?"

The silence seemed almost louder than the crashing waves as Callie took in a long, slow breath of oxygen while composing her answer.

"Our parents are best friends, right?" She asked finally.

"Right…" Charlie didn't know where she was going with this, but he wasn't about to stop her to ask questions.

"Your parents, Rikki and Zane, my parents, Cleo and Lewis, plus Aunt Bella and Uncle Will." Callie continued. "They've all been close friends since they were kids."

"Callie, where are you going with this?" Charlie couldn't keep the words from escaping his lips.

"Hold your horses, I'm getting there." Callie swatted his shoulder. "My parents had three kids, my two sisters and me. Both of my sisters are older than me, that's why I already know about it. Lucy and Ellie each got the talk, but it turned out that Ellie didn't need it-"

"Callie!" Charlie lost it. "The point, get to it. _Please_."

Callie clenched her jaw, swallowing hard. "Our mothers are mermaids." She said clearly, waiting for Charlie's response."

Charlie didn't know whether to laugh or get really angry. "Shut up." He sat up, annoyed with himself for thinking she knew anything about what was going on.

"I'm not joking." Callie continued matter-of-factly. "They weren't born that way, they changed when they were kids. Bella too. Zane, Will, and Dad know all about it. When my parents got pregnant with Lucy, they didn't know what was going to happen. Like, whether she'd have a fin or not." Callie kept talking, even though Charlie's eye rolling was obnoxious.

"When Ellie was born, they all thought she'd turned out normal. They weren't going to tell us anything about it. Then came, Lucy, then you, then me. All the kids of the mermaids, perfectly human." Her voice dropped low again. "Then, right before Lucy's eighteenth birthday, she started acting funny in the water. "Of course, we didn't know anything about our parents, or mermaids, or magic, or any of that stuff, so none of us had a clue what was going on. Then…" She leaned in, finally gaining Charlie's full attention. "Lucy transformed. Like, all the way from human to mermaid, man. It was terrifying. I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself." She shook her head, lost in thought. "Anyway, my mom came home and caught us in the pool. She calmed Lucy down and explained everything to us, then swore us each to secrecy. Poor dad, he was pretty surprised."

Charlie held up one hand to pause Callie's speaking, his head beginning to pound. "So…" He spoke very slowly. "You're telling me that my mom is a mermaid… and that I'm going to be one too?"

"Maybe you will, maybe you won't." Callie shrugged, looking down at the sand. "My sister Ellie never changed, and she's years older than Lucy was when she changed. You're actually a little late, I'll bet your folks thought you were in the clear."

"And… you?" Charlie frowned, not believing that he was taking this seriously.

"Nope." Callie shook her head. "One hundred percent human, so far."

"And they thought, what? That they wouldn't ever have to tell us if we didn't turn?" Charlie brows knit together.

"Our parents decided onto to tell the secret to family members who needed to know. Ellie and I only know because of Lucy, no one else knows. Although…" She looked down at her shoes, suddenly awkward. "It does sound like you're, um, going to need to know soon. If you're showing signs…"

The only sound for several seconds was the waves crashing onto the beach as the pair looked out over the water.

"This isn't real." Charlie spoke up calmly.

"Yes it is." Callie's simple reply came a moment later.

"No it _isn't_. _"_ Charlie stood abruptly, sending sand flying. "Just stop it, ok? I'm sorry I came to you."

"Look," Callie was instantly standing, her hands gripping Charlie's shoulders as she faced him. "I know this all sounds insane, ok? I mean, I'm a reasonably intelligent human being, I _know_ the difference between reality and fantasy and I _promise_ I am completely aware of the fact that mermaids are supposed to be the stuff of sailor stories and old fairy tales, but this is _real_ Charlie. Your mom can prove it to you."

Charlie nodded angrily, wrenching out of her grip. "Right. That's what my mom is going to talk to me about, huh? Am I right?"

"Well, yeah." Callie tried to get Charlie to meet her eyes. "You're showing signs, Char. A lot of them. More than Lucy showed, sounds like. You need to get ready for the change."

"You said Ellie didn't change." Charlie shoved his hands forcefully into his pockets.

"But Lucy did. And she showed symptoms. Several of the same ones, too, for the most part. Forgetting to _breathe_ , the whole water-feels-so-good thing, I remember it." Callie nodded vehemently.

Charlie's stomach clenched painfully. He hadn't even told her about how quickly he'd dried after swimming, or how the water had seemed to move in slow motion at his command.

"This is ridiculous." Charlie pulled back, turning to stalk back to his car.

"Charlie, wait!" Callie caught him by the elbow, pulling him in so that he could hear her whisper harshly. "If this is really what's going on, then you could _change_ change any day now. Anytime you touch water, Charlie. You've got to be careful." Her eyes were open wide, worried as they explored his.

Charlie leaned in, lowering his voice to match hers. "I came to you because I trusted you, and you're just filling my head with some bullshit story. Just leave me alone." He stormed away, not bothering to look back at her expression.


	4. The Search, the Find

"We should NOT have let him walk out of this house." Rikki paced angrily, checking the front window before turning angrily to the others in the room.

"And whose fault is that?" Zane rolled his eyes. "I was on the phone with Will."

"Speaking of…" Lewis chimed in, trying to break up the argument. "Where is Will? Is he coming or what?"

"He said he'd be here within an hour." Zane shrugged, crossing his arms.

"Aaaaand it's been ninety minutes." Rikki said tersely.

"Will will be here." Cleo stood. "And Charlie will be home soon, safe and sound. We'll talk to him, lay it all out, and everything will be fine, ok?"

"We should have told him sooner. As soon as Lucy changed." Rikki shook her head, staring at her feet.

"But there was a chance he'd stay human, Rikki. Forgive me for wanting our child to live a normal life." Zane clenched his jaw, tired of having the same argument.

"He could have _known_ about mermaids and still had a normal life, Zane." Rikki's voice raised slightly.

" _No one_ who knows about mermaids has a normal life!" Zane shouted over her, standing.

Will burst through the front door, panting. "Sorry, late practice at work and I-"

"You were on a date, Will." Rikki sighed. "Bella's not here, now just sit down so we can go over exactly what we're going to say. We can tackle the other thing later."

"Where's Bella?" Will tried his hardest to act like he didn't care about the answer as he grabbed a beer from the fridge.

"She's on a date too." Cleo smirked.

"C'mon, guys, focus." Rikki snapped her fingers.

Zane slipped quietly out the back door as the group's chattering resumed, pulling it closed gently behind him. His head was pounding, and he couldn't stand to be in that room any longer. He needed air. He rested his hands on the wooden banister, letting his head drop as he took in a deep breath of oxygen.

A creak on the wooden porch behind him made him spin around.

"Charlie?" Zane frowned. "We've all been waiting for you, how long have you been home?"

"Hey Dad." Charlie spoke quietly, looking up from his seat on a corner bench. He was sitting there, cross-legged, staring at his hands in his lap.

Zane dropped down next to him, neither of them speaking for several seconds.

"I was at the beach with Callie." Charlie said blankly, his mind still racing. "We were just hanging out… talking."

"Yeah." Zane cleared his throat. "She called."

Charlie nodded, still looking down. "And did she tell you… what we were talking about?"

This time it was Zane who nodded.

More silence. The sun was just staring to set, its rays reflecting off of the ocean waves as they rolled across the sand.

"I don't want to have another drawn out, serious talk." Charlie's voice had slightly more energy to it as he raised his head to level a strong look at Zane. "Just tell me, so I know." He inhaled. "Is it true?" His cheeks flushed with a mixture of nervousness and embarrassment the moment the question left his mouth.

"Yes." Zane's answer was almost inaudible, but Charlie heard it loud and clear.

"And you just _weren't_ going to say anything?" Charlie couldn't help but feel hurt as he raised his eyes to his father's, an anger building inside him.

"Your mother wanted to tell you a long time ago." Zane continued softly, staring down at the deck, unable to meet his son's eyes. "You were twelve when Lucy turned, and she wanted to explain the whole thing right then and there."

"Then why didn't she?" Charlie's voice felt choked as his heart rate picked up.

Zane let out a long sigh. "I-… _we_ decided it was a better idea to wait. If you'd never turned, you would never have known anything about it. It would have kept your life normal. Simple."

"Seriously?" Charlie couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You don't think I would have _eventually_ noticed that something weird was going on?" He couldn't keep the skepticism out of his voice.

"We hid it pretty easily from you for the last twenty years." Zane shrugged. "There were a couple close calls, but you didn't have a clue, did you?"

Charlie deflated. He was right. He hadn't had the slightest knowledge about any of this drama, aside from noticing when his parents were hiding something. Still, he never in a million years would have guessed it was something so out there. So totally impossible.

"So… Mom is a… " Charlie couldn't believe what he was saying.

"Yes she is." Zane looked at his son, hoping Charlie wouldn't hate him forever.

"This is too weird, Dad." Charlie glanced back towards the house, dreading going inside.

"Trust me, I know." Zane shook his head, looking up at the night sky.

"Is the whole panel in there?" Charlie sank down on the bench. He desperately didn't feel like having any more serious talks today.

"Bella is out." Zane nodded. "But Cleo, Will, Lewis, and your Mom are in there waiting." He glanced at his son, a pang of disappointment pulling at his heart. "C'mon, I'll make sure it's quick. I promise. Then, you can get out of here for a bit. Call Kelli, see a movie, do something _away_ from water."

"Really? Relief washed over Charlie. "Thanks. I think I can handle that."

"Sure thing." Zane patted Charlie on the back as he stood, ushering him towards the door. "Look who I found…" He called as he followed his boy inside.

"Charlie!" Rikki hurried over to him, wrapping her arms around him to pull him into a tight hug. "Thank god you're home. Now please, we've got to-"

"He knows." Zane stood at Charlie's right shoulder. "Everything."

"Well, Callie isn't exactly an expert, is she?" Rikki shot at him. "Charlie, have a seat on the couch."

"Whoa. Whoa, Rik." Lewis held up his hands. "Let's not interrogate him." He shoved his hands into his pockets casually as he walked over to Charlie. "Alright, tell us what you know."

Cleo and Will walked over as Charlie composed his thoughts. "I know… that you two and Bella are…" He shrugged sheepishly. "Mermaids." He finally said quickly. "Oh yeah, and Lucy."

Lewis nodded. "Anything else?"

"Well, I mean…" Charlie shuffled his feet a bit. "It seems like _I_ might be showing signs of… y'know, _changing_ too."

"Ah." Lewis nodded. "So we've heard. The symptoms?"

"Swimming really fast, not needing a lot of oxygen, making the water slow down, move, with my hand." This was the first time he'd revealed that he'd had control over the water. Charlie shot a furtive glance out of the side of his eye to gauge their reaction.

"No kidding?" Cleo seemed impressed. "Most of us didn't develop that kind of skill until after we'd already changed."

"Cool." Will raised his eyebrows. "Welcome to the club, Char."

"Congrats!" Lewis clapped him on the back.

"Wait." Rikki's voice cut through the others'. "Everyone, please, just shut up." She waited as the laughter died. "Charlie, you're going to need to be very careful now, do you understand that? That means no more swimming in public, you'll have to watch yourself around drinks, every time it rains-"

"I won't be able to go out, I know." Charlie nodded. "But, I mean, I haven't changed _yet,_ or anything, so-"

"Doesn't matter." Rikki shook her head vehemently. "It could happen at any time, Charlie. You've got to start being careful _now._ You can swim here, in the pool, but that's it. Other than that, you don't go near water."

"He'll be fine at my house, too." Cleo spoke up. "Our pool should be safe, we've got the same privacy walls you do." All of them had invested in the highest quality shielding around their pools, so that the girls could swim without risk of being seen.

"Fine." Rikki rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Or at Cleo and Lewis's. But no more swim team, you understand?"

"But Mom, the finals are next _week_." Charlie pleaded. "C'mon, it's the most important race of the year, and I haven't changed. I'll stop right after that, I promise."

"No." Zane stepped forward, speaking for the first time in several minutes. "Your Mom is right, Char. This is too big a secret to take lightly. We can't risk it."

Charlie shot a dark look at his father. "Fine." He said sullenly. "Can I go now?"

"Absolutely not." Rikki said shrilly. "We've got to go over things, make sure he knows how to drink out of a water bottle, teach him where all the best hiding places in the Café are-"

"He's heard enough from us for one night." Zane said firmly. "Give him a break, we'll talk more tomorrow." He turned to look at Charlie. "Alright?"

"Sure." Charlie glanced to his mother. "We'll talk more tomorrow, Mom. I promise." Charlie waved towards the rest of the group as he hurried to the door. He owed someone an apology.

BREAK

Callie checked the time when she heard the knock at her from door. She stood up, stretching. Her parents weren't home yet, they were still over at-

"Charlie?" Callie was surprised to see him, but she waved him inside and shut the door behind him. "And just what are you doing h-"

"I'm sorry." Charlie blurted out, unable to contain himself.

A small smile did a good job of brightening Callie's face slightly. "Grovel." She commanded, dropping onto her couch, an expectant grin on her face.

Charlie couldn't help but laugh as he dropped to his knees, crawling over to her. "Oh Callie, I sincerely apologize for being a complete douche bucket earlier today. Can you ever, ever forgive me?" He dropped dramatically across her lap, resting his forehead on her tanned knees.

"Oh, get up, you jerk." Callie laughed as she tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear.

"I really am sorry though." Charlie crawled to sit next to her on the couch. "I didn't mean to flip out on you, I was just-"

"Overwhelmed?" Called raised her eyebrows. "I mean, you'd _only_ just found out that you're probably going to be half-fish for the rest of your life, what's the big deal?" She shrugged sarcastically. "So how did you get out of there so quickly? I'd have thought they'd have you locked down until morning at least."

"I got the rundown, but my Dad helped me make an escape." Charlie grabbed Callie's beer off the side table and took a swig. "I figured I'd come here. You're kind of the only person I can talk to."

"Gee, you sure know just how to make a girl feel special." Callie snatched her beer out of his hand, taking a long pull for herself. "Ain't Kelli a lucky one."

Kelli… Charlie shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I'm going to have to tell her…" He said after a moment.

"What?" Beer sprayed out of Callie's mouth. "No, you can't tell _anyone,_ champ. Anyone." She swallowed. "And that _definitely_ applies to that brick-dumb priss."

"Hey, she's not dumb." Charlie elbowed Callie in the ribs.

Callie snorted. "Char, I've actually heard her ask how to spell the word 'alphabet.' But it wouldn't matter if she were Einstein's daughter, you can't tell her about all of this." She waved her arms in the general direction of Charlie's legs. "I mean, it's pretty much the number one rule."

"Our Dads know." Charlie shot back triumphantly. "Which means our moms told them."

"Oh, come on, they're also _married_." Callie shoved a handful of popcorn into her mouth. "It's not like you're going to end up married to a superficial princess like _Kelli_. You're better than that."

"Bella and Will!" Charlie jumped to his feet. "Will knows that Bella is a mermaid, and they aren't married." He jumped feet-first back into his place on the couch, a smug expression on his face.

"Charlie, get this through your thick skull." Callie spoke firmly. "This is about more than just you; it involves all of us. You don't say a word to anyone, including Kelli. Got me?"

"Fine." Charlie pretended to sulk, but deep down he knew that he would never say a word about any of this to Kelli. He didn't want to. "So…" He rolled his head to look at Callie. "You really are the only person I can talk to."

"And my parents, your parents, my sisters, Bella, Will," Callie ticked the names off on her fingers. "Oh, hey! At least you won't have to come up with some super bogus reason for quitting the swim team, Will will cover for you."

"Will…" A realization dawned on Charlie. All day, he'd been wondering how his parents had known he was showing 'symptoms.' Will must have told them what had happened at training. A sadness settled inside him. He rolled his eyes to Callie. "You're sure I have to quit? Right now?"

"Well, yeah." Callie said bluntly. "I mean, you totally have to. Better sooner than later, you don't want to end up all fishified in the bottom of a public pool during a meet, y'know?"

Charlie watched her, envious that she could speak so easily about something that terrified him so much. "Do you think you'll turn?" He spoke the question almost before he'd finished thinking it.

"I have no idea." Callie gave a half-hearted shrug. "One sister did, one didn't. It could go either way."

"If you could choose…" Charlie began, but stopped when Callie sharply held up one hand.

"I'mma stop you right there." She said confidently, holding her pointer finger high in the air.

"C'mon, you're only two years younger than me. You must have thought about it." Charlie pushed.

Callie finished the rest of her beer. "That's a very personal question. I don't get a choice, so there's no point thinking about it. It might happen, it might not."

" _Personal_?" Charlie raised one eyebrow. "I'll tell you, I'm not overjoyed, I don't want it. I'm not even completely sure I believe all of this yet."

"You will." Callie stood, stretching her arms over her head. "Wanna test it out? Mom and Dad will probably be at your place until late." She turned her head coyly. "C'mon, fish man. Let's work on getting some scales on ya." She winked at him before bouncing down the hall to the towel closet.

"Ugh, Cal, shut the _fuck_ up." Charlie laughed. She was right, their pool was safe, even his own parents had agreed on that.

Callie was waiting for him as he walked through the back gate.

"So…" He stood there awkwardly, glancing around the familiar pool. "What, should I just jump in?"

"I don't know, do whatever makes ya happy." Callie pulled off her sundress, revealing a blue bikini. She settled into a large blue floating raft, bring a new beer with her. "I did always think swimming at night was under-rated. I brought you a beer, it's on the pool ledge over there." She rolled her shoulders, getting comfy.

Charlie took a deep breath as he walked up to the edge of the deep end. Before he could talk himself out of it, he took one big step off the concrete ledge and plunged into the water.

Callie raised her eyebrows as she watched him disappear beneath the surface. "Not bad." She mused. "I'd give it a nine."

Charlie felt his whole body shiver as his feet hit the twelve-foot deep pool floor. He was used to spending time at this depth; it was part of his training as a deep sea free diver, but it felt even easier for him now. He bent his knees, lifting his feet so that he could sink down until he was laying flat on the cool tile floor. He found strangely safe. Almost like the sea was holding him. He felt like he could close his eyes and sleep down here, deep in the blackness of the pool.

His feeling of security instantly changed into one of fear and surprise. This was another symptom, he could feel it. Things were still changing in him. Was he about to transform? Did he want to? Kicking hard, Charlie swam along the tile, following it into the shallow end. His heart slammed inside his chest as he realized that he hadn't come up for air. His lunges didn't even feel pressured. This was comfortable.

Charlie forced himself to be calm. Well, as much as he could. Sure, he'd been under the water for he didn't know how long, but he still had legs. He was in the shallow end, he could stand up and breathe any time he wanted. Or just climb out altogether, he thought to himself. Flipping over, he settled onto his back, letting himself sink the few feet down.

It was an odd sensation. He had never had an easy time sinking; his lungs held too much oxygen. But now… He closed his eyes as the water moved over him. It felt like a hundred cool hands running all over his body, soothing him.

He drifted, not paying any attention to the passing time. Eventually Charlie surfaced, blinking as he shook water out of his hair.

"Hey, look who isn't dead." Callie hopped off her raft, wading over towards him.

"How long was I under there, a couple minutes?" Charlie rubbed at his ear, trying to shake the water out.

"Char…" Callie grabbed his wrist, looking at him carefully. "You were under there for just over _six_ minutes."

Charlie froze, his breath suddenly shallow. "S- six minutes, huh?" He grabbed his towel, throwing it around his shoulders.

"Yeah.." Callie couldn't tell how he was handling the information. "You ok? Still… excited about all this?"

"I'm great." Charlie hopped out of the pool, reaching for his shirt. "I mean, I don't know what I am. Callie, I _literally_ don't know _what_ I _am._ Excited? Am I supposed to be excited about turning into a fish? About having to change my whole life? I-" He paced anxiously as he spoke.

"Sit down." Callie patted the concrete pool. "C'mon…" She said as he continued pacing. "Now, how am I supposed to make you feel better if you're actually going to make me get out of the pool to do it?"

Charlie reluctantly obliged, sitting on the edge of the pool in front of Callie, his feet dangling in the water. "Okay. Fix it." He looked at Callie as he slumped back to rest on his hands.

"You told me the water moved." Callie propped herself up on her elbows. "Right?"

"Yeah…" Charlie remembered. "It was like it was falling in slow motion, kinda. And it was like I had control of it."

"Okay then." Callie snagged a pool raft and held it up high over her head. The water rolled off of it, cascading in front of her face in thousands of tiny drops. "Go ahead." She nodded. "Make it fall in slow motion."

Charlie let out a long exhale as he focused his full attention on the waters. The first time this had happened, it had been by accident. What had he done? His eyebrows knit together with effort as he raised one hand, almost touching the water. He bit his lip as he concentrated, forgetting to feel self conscious about using his powers in front of another person.

Callie couldn't help but smile to herself. It was a nice change to watch Charlie take something so seriously. He was usually so flippant, like he had to act too cool to care about much. Here, he seemed focused… strong. She liked his side of him.

Charlie gasped. "C-Callie!" He gasped out. "Look!"

He was holding one hand extended barely a millimeter away from the droplets. Sure enough, the water was falling down, floating on the air before eventually making it to the pool below. It moved even more slowly than it had earlier. He could feel a sort of power flowing through his hand, allowing him to have control.

"Charlie… wow." Callie breathed, mesmerized.

Charlie closed his eyes tightly and focused all the energy he could summon onto the water in front of him.

"Holy shit." He heard Callie speak. "Charlie, you're missing it."

He hesitantly pulled his eyes open, then gasped as well. The water was all frozen, handing in midair without moving. It glittered in the moon light, reflecting like tiny diamonds shimmering in the night sky.

"Char…" Callie set the raft down and held one hand out, waving it amongst the drops. They moved at her touch, but remained hanging unmoving in mid air.

"Whoa…" Charlie mouthed. He dropped his hand down at his side a moment later and, with a great splash, the rest of the water fell down into the pool all over Callie.

Callie sputtered, wiping water out of her eyes. "That was too cool." She laughed. "Man, you're going to be so good at this."

Butterflies kicked up in Charlie's chest. "When…" Charlie paused to clear his throat. "Ah, when do you think I'll… you know… change? Like, all the way?"

"No idea." Callie propped herself back up on her elbows, resting her head in one hand. "I've only got one case to compare it to, and you're already _way_ better at controlling water than Lucy was when she turned. She showed symptoms for a full month before her first transformation, but her symptoms were much more subtle, not even close to how intense yours have been. And there was a lot of time between symptoms. Yours have come on awfully quick. Not long, I'd guess. But who knows?"

Charlie frowned. "How did she convince your parents to let her go to college?"

"She didn't give them much of an option." Callie chuckled. "She had had her heart set on going to university, and she'd been saving for years to pay for it herself. She turned a month before the fall session was starting and absolutely refused to withdraw her registration. Pitched an unholy fit when Dad tried to convince her to stay home. They did try to stop her, but eventually they just had to accept it. They trained her like crazy, and it seems to be going pretty well. She hasn't had any closes calls or anything, no one's found out about her secret."

"So…" Charlie thought out loud. "I can probably go on leading a relatively normal life, right?"

Callie flicked at his knee. "You're not growing a third arm or anything, dork. Just stay away from water, you'll be just fine."

Charlie leaned back, straining to see the clock that hung on the side of the pool shed. "Damn, it's late." He stood, shaking the water from his feet as he pulled them from the water. His feet were completely dry before he could even put them down on the pavement. "Hey, check it out, this happened earlier." He gestured to his legs. "Completely dry. Instantly."

"Your power amazes me." Callie rolled her eyes as she climbed out of the water and reached for her towel.

"Hey, don't be jealous of my mer-skills." Charlie screwed up his face. "Is that what we're calling them? Mer-skills? Sounds dumb."

"Sure does." Callie nodded in agreement, tying her towel around her waist. "Don't you go getting all cocky just yet, my friend. I haven't even told you about what happens on the full moon." She popped her eyebrows up into her hairline as she walked calmly back into the house.

"Full moons?" Charlie hurried to grab his things before chasing after her. "Callie, tell me what happens on the full moon!"


	5. Almost

Lewis twisted his keys in the lock. "It's fine, Cleo." He placed a hand on the small of her back as he let her into the house before him.

"I… am going to kill her." Cleo leaning into Lewis's shoulder to whisper in his ear, nodding towards the couch in the living room before breezing into the kitchen.

Charlie and Callie were both sound asleep on the couch. Charlie was slumped over one couch arm, his open mouth drooling onto the inside of his left forearm. His legs were fully extended, draped over Callie's lap. Callie had fallen asleep sitting up, her head resting on the back of the couch as she snored loudly.

"You'd think she at least would have texted, she had to have known his parents would be wondering where he'd gone." Cleo nodded toward the sleeping pair.

"I think it's nice that they're spending time together again." Lewis grinned. "It's been years."

"Excuse me, Charlie…" Cleo clapped her hands. "Wake up, kiddo."

Charlie jerked awake, groaning as he worked his stiff joints. "Wh- Where…" He rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"You're in our house." Lewis gave an awkward wave. "On our couch. At 2am."

"Really?" Charlie sprang into motion, quickly collecting his things. "I'm really sorry, Mr. Mcartney, it's just been a really long day and I must have fallen asleep after-"

"Just get yourself home, Char." Lewis patted him on the shoulder as he walked him to the door. "Your parents have been wondering where you were."

"Right." Charlie hastily stepped into his flip flops. "Will you tell Call-" He glanced at Callie, who was still sound asleep on the couch.

"I'll tell her." Lewis couldn't help but smile to himself as he made the promise. "Now get your tail home. I mean, uh," He cleared his throat, correcting himself. "Just get home, ok?"

"You got it." Charlie gave a mock salute before darting out the door. He hoped his parents weren't too mad. Sure, they'd told him he could go out, but they'd definitely expected him home at a decent hour.

* * *

"C'mon, man…" Zane groaned as Charlie burst into the house. "Do you know what time it-"

"I know, Dad, I'm sorry." Charlie cut him off before he could finish. "I'm sorry, I lost track of time."

"Yeah, Cleo called a minute ago." Zane followed his son into the kitchen. "Your mother has been freaking out."

"Hey," Charlie grabbed an apple from the counter. "You guys kept an astronomically huge secret from me for my whole life. I've been doing a little _freaking out_ of my own, ok?" Charlie spoke defensively as he headed for the stairs.

Rikki closed her eyes tightly, exhaling before stepping into the kitchen from where she'd been waiting in the adjoining study. "Wait to tell him." She muttered. "Great plan." She shot a fiery look at her husband before marching for the stairs and jogging up to Charlie's door.

Charlie rolled his eyes slightly as he heard his bedroom door creak open. "I _really_ don't want to talk about this anymore tonight. It's late; I just want to get to sleep."

"Just one minute, ok?" Rikki sat next to him on the bed, waiting a few seconds before speaking. "I know this is all a shock-"

"A _shock_?" Charlie laughed dryly. "Mom, this is _not_ a shock. No. I mean," He stood. "This is… I don't know _what_ this is. This is more than a shock, mom." He looked her dead in the eyes. "This is a betrayal. You could have trusted me-"

"I always wanted to tell you-" Rikki tried to cut in.

"I know, _I know_." Charlie waved a hand to silence her. "Dad told me earlier. But you _could_ have told me, Mom. You could have warned me. And you didn't. "

Rikki opened her mouth, then closed it again. What could she say? He was right.

"I understand why you're upset." Rikki's voice grew slightly more confident. "But this is something you're going to have to come to terms with, and soon." She reached out, but Charlie shrugged away from her. "I have to admit…" She continued quietly. "It's going to be really nice to finally be able to talk to you about all this-"

"Mom, _please_ , " Charlie faced her, holding up one hand firmly. "Just stop." He took a long, steadying breath as he tried to compose his thoughts. "Look," He sighed. "I'm angry. And upset. My… whole life might be changing. _Is_ changing. You…" He nodded awkwardly towards Rikki. "Are a…. you know…"

Rikki nodded

Charlie swallowed hard. "And, if all this is real, I might become one too."

"It _is_ real." Rikki interjected before clapping her hand over her mouth. "Sorry."

"All I'm saying is," Charlie cracked his knuckles anxiously. "I need some space. And time. I need to be able to cope with all of this before we can start chatting about it over the dinner table, k?"

"Okay." Rikki nodded hard. "But if you have any questions…"

"I'll come straight to you." Charlie promised, meaning it.

"Okay." Rikki repeated. She patted the bed before standing. "I'll just… let you get to sleep then."

"Thanks." Charlie nodded, waiting to move until the door had closed behind her. He reached for his phone, quickly typing out a message to Callie as he stifled an exhausted yawn.

' _Tonight was awesome, come over tomorrow? More swimming?'_

He quickly hit 'send,' then curled up in his bed, clicking off his light, and falling immediately into a deep, deep sleep.

* * *

Charlie awoke the next morning to the smell of pancakes. "Mmmm…" He yawned as he dragged himself down the stairs. "Mom?" He heard someone moving around in the kitchen.

"Guess again." Callie called, flipping over a perfectly golden-brown pancake. "Both of your parents are at work. I've got this shift of Charlie-watch."

" _Charlie-watch?"_ Charlie grabbed a pancake out of the pan and shoved it into his mouth. "What's that?" He tried to say, choking on unchewed pancake.

"Your dad doesn't want you to be alone. Just in case, I guess." Callie frowned. "Ew, Charlie, use a plate."

Charlie obliged, grabbing one from the cabinet. He offered it to Callie before taking out a second one for himself. "Seriously? So you're what, my babysitter?"

"Hey, you could do a lot worse." Callie raised her eyebrows at him. "And you _did_ tell me to come over today, so stop acting like you've been all that inconvenienced. You turn into a fish yet?"

Charlie choked, coughing hard to clear his windpipe. For literally just a second, he'd forgotten. It all came slamming back to him in an instant, settling into his gut like an anvil. A shadow passed over his face as his smile faded.

"Hey, now." Callie clapped her hands loudly. "Snap out of it. Don't ruin our awesome day-where-I-get-to-be-your-babysitter, you hear me? I've got no time for gloommies."

She was right. Charlie gave himself a mental shake, telling himself to pull it together.

"So… did you want to swim some more?" Callie prompted him, leaning forward on the kitchen table as she spoke.

"Yeah." Charlie swallowed nervously. "I, uh, guess that's the best idea, right? Just keep practicing?" Suddenly, he remembered. "Shit, I'm supposed to be at work by noon."

"Call out." Callie shrugged. "Or, if you do go in, you'd better be covered from head to toe. Lotta water in that marine park, you'll have to be way careful." She rinsed the frying pan in the sink as she spoke.

"You're right."Charlie fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed it before holding it to his ear. "Hey, Laurie, I'm really sorry but I'm not going to be able to make it in today. I'm not feeling well." It wasn't a complete lie, at least. His stomach _did_ feel queasy as he thought about the changes that were happening to his body. He said a quick goodbye to Laurie before dropping his phone onto the counter. "Back in five." He said before jogging up the steps to his room. He tossed on his swim trunks, grabbed a couple towels, and was on the pool deck before Callie had even had time to change.

Charlie paced the hot stone deck, looking out over the rippling blue water. He dropped his things and dove far out into the middle of the pool. He immediately allowed himself to sink to the bottom, enjoying the way the water grew darker as he got closer to the tiles. He stretched out, laying flat on his back as he felt his muscles relaxing.

As before, the pressure in his lungs disappeared. He felt like he could stay under the surface all day without needing to come up to breathe. Suddenly, it hit him that today might be the day. That he really _was_ going to change. A slight tingle in his legs came and went before he could really even notice it, making him shiver.

"Charlie?"

Charlie could hear Callie's voice calling to him, though it was muffled. He exhaled, watching the bubbles float from his mouth to the surface of the water. Lazily, he pushed himself along the pool's floor, following it up to the shallow end. He surfaced a moment later, blinking the water out of his eyes before propping himself up on his elbows at the pool's edge.

"Cal, you've got to get in here. The water is _perfect_." Charlie flipped over to float on his back, lazily kicking himself around the shallow end. The water felt even more incredible on his skin; it was intense today. "I feel it even more than last night."

"Better enjoy swimming with those legs while ya got'm." Callie laughed as she reached for the sunscreen.

Charlie thought about that for a long moment. She was right. He would never, _ever,_ be able to swim in public again. He couldn't, he'd be seen. He would have to be careful for the rest of his life. Maybe even during his children's lives. With a sigh, he exhaled and sank down to the bottom of the 3-feet deep pool. He couldn't bring himself to think about all that now, not when the water felt so damn _amazing._

The churning feeling returned to his gut, stronger this time. Suddenly, he felt his lungs expanding, as if he were actually breathing in oxygen _while under the water._ His toes and hips suddenly felt tingly. Not the light, tickly kind, but the prickly, needle-sharp tingling that made him wryth slightly before stretching his legs out as far as they could go. He could feel his skin pulsing, tightening just below his navel. All at once, his legs felt like they were on fire. He instinctively clapped them together, bending his knees. The moment his legs met, a cooling sensation washed over him.

What was happening? Was this… _it? Right now_? Excitement built in his chest as he gave himself over to the feeling.

Callie frowned as she peered down into the blue. Charlie was squirming, rolling around in the water, but she could tell if he was in pain, she squinted… or if he was _really_ turned on.

"Charlie? Hello?" A female voice echoed over the wall.

Callie jumped, whipping around to see where the voice had come from. "Kelli?" Her heard stopped as the brunette pushed her way through the unlocked side gate.

"Ew, where is Charlie?" Kelli flicked a wet leaf off her hand as she picked through the side bushes towards the pool.

"Shit." Callie hissed. "Hey, uh ,Charlie!" Callie dropped to her knees, on hand plunging frantically into the water as she shouted. "Charlie!" No matter what she did, she just couldn't seem to get his attention. Charlie's body was still rippling in the water, his eyes screwed shut.

"Oh, hell." Callie threw herself into the water, reaching down for him. She couldn't let Kelli see him like this, he was a mess.

Charlie jerked awake as Callie grabbed his shoulders, twisting around to reorient himself. He gasped, inhaling a mouthful of water that made him cough and choke as he clawed his way to the surface, the intense electric pulses gone in a flash.

"Charlie?" Kelli squinted into the water, a look of disgust plain on her face. "What in the world are you doing in there?" She sniffed. "And with _her_?" She crossed her arms over her chest, sticking out one hip as she waited for his response.

"Kelli?" Charlie rubbed water from his eyes as his feet planted firmly on the pool floor. His _feet,_ he thought in relief.

Callie climbed out of the water, wringing water out of the t-shirt she hadn't had time to take off before jumping in.

"Laurie just called asking me to cover your shift today because you'd called in _sick_." Kelly clenched her jaw angrily. "You sure don't look sick to _me_ , asshole." With that, Kelli turned on her heel, flipped her hair, and marched for the gate.

"Kell, stop!" Charlie clambered out of the water, chasing after his girlfriend. "It's not what it looks like, ok?"

"Oh, really?" Kelly whipped around, her hands flying to her hips indignantly. "Because it _looks_ like you bailed out of work today to hang out with that freaky alt chick, who also happens to be your _cousin_ , which is, like, _so_ gross-"

"We aren't really related, our parents are just friends." Charlie said tiredly, though Kelly didn't so much as slow down.

"I mean, what the hell, Charlie? You _know_ I have things to do today, it's not like I can give up my whole day to cover _your_ shift just because you feel like splashing around with some other girl when you _aren't even sick_ -"

"Whoa, whoa, Kelli. Stop." Charlie caught her hand, pulling her back a few inches. "Just listen ok?" He placed a firm hand on each of her shoulders, looking her dead in the eye. He could feel himself drying off more quickly than normal, but he prayed she wouldn't notice.

His prayers were answered.

"What _is_ it, then? And it had better be good." Kelly crossed her arms over her chest, huffing as she rolled her eyes to the sky.

"Kells, I _was_ feeling sick earlier, ok?" He tried to sound calm, though his heart was still beating hard after what had happened in the pool. "I was, ok? But… I feel all better now, and I was…uh…" He grabbed his phone off the deck table. …"Just getting ready to call Laurie and tell him I could come in after all." He cracked a lopsided smile, hoping she'd believe him. "And, I," He stammered. "I was just doing my training from home, you know, swimming a few laps, when Callie… she, uh, she-"

"My mom just asked me to bring over a movie we borrowed." Callie shrugged, seemingly disinterested as she wrung water out of her ponytail. "I got here right before you did, Super K. Chill out. I was just letting Charlie know I had dropped by when you graced us with your presence."

"You _jumped_ in the _pool_." Kelly scrunched up her face, disgusted as she looked over Callie's wet clothing.

"Nah, just slipped." Callie didn't miss a beat. "Total klutz here. Tell your friends." Callie's voice was comically monotone as she turned, strolling back into the house.

"I'm calling Laurie right now, ok?" Charlie hastily dialed the number.

"Oh just stop talking." Kelli held up one hand. "I already told Laurie I'd cover, and in return he's getting my afternoon shift covered tomorrow. So I'll get to go with Brit to that party on campus. It's fine."

"It's… fine." Charlie exhaled in frustration. "So… you were mad at me because…"

Kelli ignored the question. "You know…" She stepped in closer, looking up at him with hooded eyes. "Since we both have off work… you could join me… it's been a while…"

"Uh, sorry." Charlie said too quickly. "I should probably get some rest." He finished lamely.

Kelly threw a pointed look at the pool he had just climbed out of before flipping her hair and wordlessly marching out of the pool gate and through the fence.

Charlie let his head drop forward, his chin landing on his chest with a thud. That was lame.

His eyes flew open. He had been _changing_ in the pool a moment ago, he'd felt it. All thoughts of Kelli vanished in an instant. "Callie!" Charlie ran for the door, throwing it open to lean inside. He ran over to the couch, where Callie lounged. "Cal, something really weird was happening out there a moment ago." He almost couldn't contain himself.

"She is _such_ an idiot, Charlie." Callie shook her head as Charlie grabbed her elbow and pulled her towards the door.

" _Cal_ ," Charlie was hardly paying attention to a word she was saying. "Shut up." He stopped at the pool edge, whipping around to grasp her wrist excitedly. "Just now, before Kelly showed up… I think I was actually starting to transform. Before I got out of the water, that's when it stopped." He was speaking quickly, lowering his voice at Callie's pointed glare. "Sorry." He whispered, glancing from side to side before continuing. "But listen… I could feel it." He swallowed. "I think this is it."

"Seriuosly? Sheesh." Callie jogged to make sure the gate around the pool was locked tightly. "No more visitors." She gave the gate a hard shake before walking back to Charlie, who was staring out at the water. "You ready for this?" She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I think so." Charlie's breath was shallow and quick as he turned to look at Callie.

"Well then…" Callie's breath caught in her throat suddenly as she found her face only inches from Charlie's. She was close enough to feel his hot breath on her face and, for just a moment, she couldn't move.

After a moment of indulgence, Callie forced herself to snap out of it. "C'mon then," She cleared her throat. "In with you. Fishify yourself."

Charlie smirked, running the two strides it took before launching himself out into the water. Callie watched him sinking down, her own heart fluttering. She'd known Charlie literally since she was born, and hse'd never felt anything more than friendship between them, but… there was something about seeing him this way. Vulnerable, open, trusting… She took in a long, calming breath. 'Get it together, Cal.' She told herself. 'He has a girlfriend.'

AS usual, Charlie allowed himself to sink down to the bottom. He was barely able to contain his nervousness and excitement as he watched his legs, waiting for something to happen.

Callie squinted, crouching down to try to see what was going on in the water. She jumped, startled, when Charlie came sputtering to the surface only seconds later.

He was coughing hard, working hard to catch his breath as he grabbed onto the pool's edge for stability.

"What the hell happened?" Callie crouched down in front of him. "Are you ok?"

"Nothing." Charlie panted, resting his forehead on the cool concrete. "Nothing happened." He shook his head, confused. "I mean, I ran out of _breath._ That hasn't happened in days now. I couldn't stay down there, and I couldn't make the water move, and I didn't _feel_ anything. It was just like the way things used to be, before…" He sighed. "Before."

"Nothing… at all?" Callie's eyes searched Charlie's worriedly. He seemed really upset.

"No." Charlie felt lost in his thoughts as his mind raced. Every single time he'd so much as _touched_ water over the last several days he'd had a reaction. Some, well, some pretty _drastic_ reactions. But just now…

Taking in a deep breath, Charlie pushed off the wall and back under the surface, shutting his eyes tightly as he tried to focus. He stood angrily less than a minute later, sending water cascading over Callie.

"Hey man, watch it." Callie jumped back.

"Nothing's _happening_ , Cal." Charlie ran his hands frantically through his dripping hair as he climbed out of the pool. "I can't stay under any longer than I ever could. The feeling isn't there…" He sat next to her on the hot pavement.

"Char… it's ok." Callie reached out hesitantly, placing her hand over his. "Just breathe, okay?" She forced a reassuring smile to her face. "So you _didn't_ turn into a half-man half-fish creature today. Most people would see that as a _good_ thing."

Charlie shook his head, trying to compose his words. "I just…" His voice trailed off. "I guess I was just kind of… ready for it. You know?" His voice grew quieter as his eyes met hers. "I wanted it."

"And you'll be ready when it happens for real, ok?" Callie nodded, her voice gentle. "You'll probably turn tomorrow. It'll still come."

"Sure." Preoccupied, Charlie pulled his hand from hers and made his way for the pool gate.

Callie sighed as she watched her friend disappear inside the house. She could only imagine what he was going through. She shivered at the thought. "God, I hope I never have to go through this." She whispered to herself as she jogged inside after Charlie.


	6. The Change

Days passed by slowly. After all of that excitement, life just seemed… bland. Every morning, Charlie would throw on his trunks and jump into their pool, hoping against hope that he'd feel something, and every morning he would be disappointed. It was all gone. The water just felt like… water, and he just felt like a man.

Enough days passed that Charlie began to convince himself that maybe the whole ordeal had been in his head. He felt like a fool for falling for any of it. It was ridiculous, really, and he knew it. He'd been withdrawn since that day in the pool, rarely coming out of his room any more than was necessary. He rarely spoke to his parents, and he avoided his team mates. Somehow, he just couldn't bring himself to accept that he was normal again.

Charlie's phone rang, lighting up from its place on the side table next to his bed.

"Callie." Charlie muttered, ignoring the call. In fact, he'd found himself ignoring most of her calls lately. He just couldn't bring himself to talk to her, he was too embarrassed. The first question out of her mouth was always, 'So, anything magic happen today?"'

He was embarrassed, and he couldn't help it. He felt like he must be somehow defective. He'd shown so many intense symptoms, and then right when it was time for him to make _the change_ , his body had changed its mind.

He'd been avoiding his parents too, though that was a bit more difficult. His mother had tried several times to talk to him, though he'd tuned her out with each attempt. He knew that Rikki meant well, but he was too upset with himself to listen. His father seemed more than happy to forget anything had even happened, so Charlie found himself spending even more time than normal at Rikki's Café, where Zane worked.

Any time not at the café was spent training at the college pool. His parents didn't want him swimming, but Will had managed to convince them that he would keep an eye out. Charlie pushed his training harder than he ever had before, trying in vain to stay under water and swim with half the speed he'd once experienced. He'd seen Will watching him out of the corner of his eyes, and he knew that Will was on edge every time Charlie jumped into the pool, but it wasn't necessary. Nothing was happening. Nothing at all.

"Alright, two more laps." Will's voice echoed off the stone walls of the practice pool room as Charlie finished up the length of the pool lane.

It took him less than a minute to finish his last two lengths, though Charlie was frustrated with himself. He knew he could go faster, he just knew it.

"Good time, Char." Will called, clicking the stop watch.

"Yeah." Charlie grabbed a towel, not interested in speaking as he dried himself off.

Will shifted his weight awkwardly, unsure of what to say next. He knew that Charlie had gone through _something,_ in the water, something drastic enough for Rikki and Zane to tell him the family secret, but Will didn't know what was going on now. Charlie was withdrawn, more serious than he'd ever known him to be. He was still decidedly human, as far as Will could tell, and was not interested in discussing it.

As his mind wandered to mermaids, his thoughts drifted to Bella, as they often did. The way they used to swim together, so far out in the ocean, much further than he could ever swim alone. Bella was the only person he'd ever met who enjoyed exploring the ocean just as much as he did. The pair could spend an entire day out there, only taking breaks every few hours or so. Will sighed, thinking back on what could have been for a few seconds before forcing himself back into the present.

"Charlie! Wait up!" Will jogged to catch up.

"Hm? What?" Charlie paused, turning back to look at Will, disinterest plain on his face.

Will composed his thoughts as he approached Charlie, suddenly unsure of exactly what to say. This wasn't the kind of conversation he had every day.

"What is it?" Charlie asked again, raising his eyebrows impatiently.

"It's just… if you ever want to, um, to _talk_ ," Will began, suddenly unable to look Charlie in the eyes. "About," He swallowed, lowering his voice as he moved in closer. "You know, about _merman_ stuff, I-"

"Thanks." Charlie cut him off quickly, his eyes dropping to his feet. "But it's not necessary. I mean, I'm… just not interested. "

"Seriously, Charlie." Will's voice grew a tad stronger. "I've dealt with… well, I've dealt with a _lot_ of this mer stuff. I'd be glad to talk you through it, or just listen, or I can answer questions. It helps to talk things out, and you know you can trust me not to say anything-"

"I got it." Charlie cut his friend off more harshly than he'd intended. He made an effort to soften his expression, taking in a deep breath before opening his mouth to speak gently. "Thank you for the offer. I just don't want to talk about it."

"Alright." Will nodded. "I get it. Just, uh, you know, five me a call if you ever want to hang out."

"Will do." Charlie gave Will a mock salute before pushing his way out of the building and out into the brilliantly sunny day.

Will shook his head as the door closed, reaching in his pocket for his phone. It had been too long since he'd talked to Bella; it was definitely time to catch up with his old friend.

* * *

"So I was telling Becky about what I'd heard Julie telling John," Kelli chattered endlessly as they walked through the local mall. "And so Becky decided to put a note in John's gym locker telling him that she thinks she's in love with him, and…"

Charlie tuned her out, her voice fading to a lonely echo as he walked next to her. He was lost in thoughts of the ocean when she jabbed him sharply with her elbow.

"So?" She blinked at him. "Should I tell her we're going?"

"Going?" Charlie asked blankly.

"Oh my god, do you not _listen?_ " Kelli rolled her eyes. "Are we going to Bree's birthday party next weekend?"

"Oh. You go." Charlie shrugged. He was finding it harder and harder to keep up this relationship with Kelli. In the past he'd been able to enjoy her company, shallow as it was. But now… now it was harder.

"Fine. I will." Kelli shot him an icy gaze before checking her phone. "I've got to dash, hair appointment. Are you alright with walking home?"

"Sure." Charlie answered, but it didn't matter, Kelli was already strutting towards the nearest exit.

Charlie sighed as he watched her go. Somehow, he hadn't been able to force himself to be interested in Kelli lately. All of her problems, her issues… they all seemed so childish, so high school. He couldn't help it. He'd been obsessed with the ocean. He'd tried not to be, but his thoughts of the water consumed him. As much as he was inclined to believe it had all been a made up , part of his imagination, he knew deep down in his soul that it had all really happened. But then… hadn't.

A familiar headache settled in behind his eyes as his brain worked. He just couldn't figure out what had happened. Worse than that, he worried about it starting up again. Sure, maybe when it had all started he'd briefly thought it might be cool to be a merman, or whatever, but did he really want to have to deal with this stuff for the rest of his life?

No. Things were better this way. Charlie's phone chimed again, this time with a text from Callie.

'Don't even think about it.'

Charlie dropped the phone into his bag without responding as he made his way towards his home. He knew exactly what she was talking about, just as he knew there was no way he was going to listen to her.

* * *

An hour later, Charlie pushed through the doors to the school's indoor swimming pool.

"Charlie Bennett." He told the man sitting at the front desk.

"Ah… Bennett." The man checked off his name. "And I have you competing in… 5 events today? Representing the home school, is that correct?

"Yup." Charlie nodded, keeping his head down. Callie had been hounding him about this for days, ever since he'd let slip that he was swimming in the finals despite his parents' rule about swimming in public. Charlie gritted his teeth as he headed towards the lockers. He'd worked hard to earn a spot on this team, and there was no way he was going to miss out because of some family curse that didn't even affect him.

Charlie picked up the pace as he noticed Will walking in from the far entrance. He ducked into the locker room quickly, not ready to talk to his coach yet. Sure, he knew that Will would see him eventually, but he was determined to delay that moment for as long as possible. Or at least until it was too late for Will to stop him.

Charlie hastily changed clothes and gave himself a quick stretch before throwing on a baseball cap and heading out to the stands to watch the ongoing race.

"Charlie!" Brad Lendy, Charlie's long-time friend and teammate, jogged up to him, grinning. "Man, I haven't seen you in _forever_ , we didn't know if you were going to show or not."

"Well I'm here, aren't I?" Charlie shrugged nonchalantly. "Been sick." He wasn't interested in discussing what he'd been up to the past couple weeks. Truth be told, he'd been doing a lot more of his training out in the ocean, half hoping… no, not hoping. Charlie shook his head. He just… liked to make sure that all was as it should be. And it was. He felt utterly and completely normal.

"All swimmers for the fifty meter breast stroke to the pool." A magnified voice echoed over the loud speaker.

"Go get 'em, champ." Brad slapped Charlie across the back before jogging up the steps to wait for his next event.

"CHARLIE BENNETT!"

The sharp voice startled him, making him whip around in surprise.

"I can _not_ believe you!" Callie hissed at him, her face up close to his own. "Do you have any idea what a _bad_ plan this is? Do you not _realize_ that the absolute _last_ place you should be right now is a _public_ swim meet? What if something happens?"

"C'mon, Cal." Charlie tried to push past her but she grabbed ahold of his arm and refused to loosen up as she followed behind him to the starting blocks. "Char, seriously, you cannot go through with this." Callie jabbered as he practically dragged her along with him. "I mean, you could change at _any_ moment-"

"I'm _not_ changing, ok?" Charlie's voice was low, but strong, his eyes boring into Callie's fiercely as he spoke. "Nothing's happened in almost two weeks, Cal. And I'm competing today." He forcefully shrugged out of her grip, taking his place at the top of his lane. He took his opening stance, ready and waiting for the starting shot.

BANG

Callie slammed her fists on the guard rail in front of her as Charlie dove out into the pool.

"Idiot." She muttered to herself.

"Is that… _Charlie_ " Will caught Callie's elbow as he walked past, his eyes suddenly locked on the water.

"Sure is." Callie replied bitterly.

"He promised me he would withdraw…" Will couldn't bring himself to look away from the pool, his eyes his eyes glued on nothing but Charlie's lane.

"Yeah, well, he lied." Callie crossed her arms tightly over her chest, clenching her jaw. "To both of us."

The pair watched grimly as Charlie finished the race in a comfortable first place. Charlie was grinning broadly as he jogged towards the stands, heading straight for his cheering friends.

Will cleared his throat gruffly before marching himself over to the man in charge. Callie watched, but couldn't hear what they were saying. Will was clearly speaking more than a little vehemently to the confused gentleman. A few moments later, Will marched back to Callie, his cheeks flush with anger.

"I couldn't pull him out of the relay." Will grumbled. "There's no time to find a replacement, the whole team would have to be disqualified. But he's out of everything else. I can't believe he would be so foolish." Will clenched his teeth, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "I can't believe he lied to me."

Callie felt a pang in her heart for Will. She could tell that Charlie's action had hurt him. Will had always seen himself as more of a friend to Charlie than an authority figure. He'd been the one Charlie had always come to, whether it be for girl problems or swimming tips.

"Don't take it personally." She patted Will's shoulder, hoping she was reassuring him. "He's all kinds of messed up right now."

"He hasn't…" Will examined Callie's face carefully as he spoke. " _Changed,_ has he? Rikki and Zane don't want to talk about it."

"No." Callie answered quickly, lowering her voice before stepping in closer. "I mean, he _kind of_ did, but then it, like, stopped. He went back to normal. And…" She gestured to Charlie, who was stretching and talking to his team mates as if he didn't have a care. "He's apparently decided that the best way to handle things is to tempt the _hell_ out of fate."

"Brilliance." Will's monotone fell flat as he marched across the pool deck to face Charlie. "Mr. Bennett." His voice was sharp as a tack now, icy. "A word." He jabbed his finger towards the hall, waiting at the end of it until Charlie had caught up with his rapid pace before stopping and turning on him.

"I don't want to talk about it." He cut Charlie off as he opened his mouth to protest. "You'll swim the relay, then you'll go _home_. Or don't go home, I don't care, but you won't be doing any more swimming here." Without another word, Will spun on his heel to march away from Charlie.

Charlie took a couple staggering steps after his coach before stopping, his mouth hanging open in shock. A sick feeling grew heavy in his stomach. He wasn't sure if it was nervousness, guilt, anger, or a combination of all three, but he wasn't feeling very good about himself. That was for sure.

"Charlie! C'mon!" Brad was signaling frantically to get his attention, Charlie realized. "They're calling places for the relay!"

Feeling numb, though the knot in his stomach was becoming more and more pronounced, Charlie followed Brad to the starting block.

"You almost missed it, dude. Where were you?" Brad tossed Charlie his swim cap before reaching for his own.

"Still a little sick." Charlie wasn't lying; he felt genuinely ill. Was he really feeling that bad about hiding the fact that he was competing from Will? Was that really what was making him feel so uncomfortable?

"Well pull yourself together, man." Brad stretched his arms over his head. "With you here, this one's in the bag."

"Sure as hell is." Charlie nodded at his other two team members before taking his place in the line. He still couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right. His stomach felt queasy, almost like he was flipping upside down. He felt his toes begin to tingle, as if they were asleep. For the first time since the meet had started, he thought that maybe this race wasn't such a good idea after all.

"Y'know…" He stammered. "I'm just going to run and grab some aspirin-"

"No you're not." Brad caught his elbow as the announcer gave the thirty second warning. "It's show time, pal."

"Right." Charlie nodded, slightly off-balance. "C'mon," He whispered to himself. "Pull yourself together."

The gunshot went off seconds later. Charlie could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he watched Brad dive out into the water. He would be up in less than a minute.

A cold sweat broke out across his brow as his stomach churned painfully. Was he really going through with this? Charlie swallowed hard as Brad completed his lap and tagged their next teammate, Collin. Charlie nervously stepped up to the pool's edge, regretting the decision to swim now more than ever. What if he changed? Could it really be happening? He'd never felt so out of sorts before a race before. Maybe it was just an intense case of nerves?

Charlie felt slightly dazed as he took his starting stance and waited for Collin to finish his lap. For just a moment he wanted nothing more than to stand up, pretend to be ill, and run out of there, but he couldn't make his body obey him.

This was it.

It all happened so fast. Charlie pushed off hard from the starting block, slicing into the water with speed. Immediately, he knew that something was happening, but it wasn't exactly what he'd expected.

He was swimming _fast_. He didn't think he was really going fast enough for anyone to be suspicious about, but he found himself moving much faster than he ever had during practice. Still, it wasn't as fast as he'd been when… well, it was still pretty fast. The pain in the pit of his stomach was still present, but it felt good to swim, to work his muscles. He forced himself to think of nothing but the water. Moving his arms, paddling with all his strength as the water seemed to fly past him. A feeling of excitement built in his chest…

And he was done.

Charlie was flush with exhilaration as he tagged the next swimmer and pulled himself out of the water. He was shaking slightly as he pushed through the waiting swimmers, not caring about the final score. He needed air; he felt ready to burst with exhilaration. He burst out into the hall, almost giddy with laughter.

He hadn't changed. Charlie shook his head. Of _course_ he hadn't changed. The whole thing had been a big false alarm, a figment of his imagination. Nothing was wrong, his team was going to win the relay, based on the substantial lead he'd left the team with, and everything was going to be just fine.

"Charlie!" The voice echoed off the walls, making him jump.

Charlie whipped around to see a very angry Callie marching rapidly towards him. She wasted no time, latching onto Charlie's elbow with a vice-grip and dragging him down the hallway behind her. She wrenched open a hall closet door and threw him inside, slamming the door behind her as she faced him, breathless with anger.

"Relax, Cal." Charlie spoke immediately, cutting her off. "Everything is _fine_."

"Oh, _is it_?" Callie's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. She seemed almost to be shaking with anger as she grabbed Charlie's wrist and shoved it towards his face. "And did you realize that you dried off _literally_ seconds after climbing out of that pool?"

"Wh…" Charlie realized that she was right. He hadn't noticed it happening, but he was bone-dry, as if he hadn't been swimming less than a minute ago. He pulled off his swim cap, rolling his eyes. "So I _dried_ , Cal. It's not like skin doesn't _dry._ "

"You're taking risks you shouldn't be." Callie lowered her tone, though her voice intensified. "It's not just _your_ freedom you're jeopardizing her, Char. Did you think of that?" Her hands flew to her hips in exasperation. "Did you think of what could happen to your mom? Or mine? Or my sister? You go swimming in public, with an audience, no less, you risk changing and don't even think about how many lives you might complicate. Now get your act together, stop playing around, and stop acting like a damn idiot." She then spun on her heel, hitting Charlie in the face with her ponytail before slamming the door behind her on her way out into the hall.

Charlie let out a long exhale, his heart beating a mile a minute. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so thoroughly put in his place like that. And worse…

She was right. And he knew it.

"Cal-" He called loudly, pushing his way out of the closet to jog after her. "Callie, I'm sorry." His words echoed off the tile floor.

Callie paused but didn't turn around, waiting for him to catch up to her at the end of the hallway.

"I get it." Charlie faced her, hoping she knew how much he meant the words. "I'll be more careful from now on." He lowered his voice, clapping both hands on Callie's shoulders. "Believe me?"

"Make me." Callie challenged, crossing her arms over her chest as she raised an eyebrow.

"Alright." A grin played at the corner of Charlie's mouth as he stood up straight. "But Cal, I'm not changing. Everything is normal."

"When you're the kid of a _mermaid,"_ Callie whispered the word. "Life is never normal."

"So I'm learning." Charlie laughed as he heard a pair of feet jog up behind him.

"Char man, where'd you go?" Brad slapped him on the shoulder as he ran past. "Whatever you're doing, keep it up, man! Good race!" He grabbed a towel on his way into the locker room, drying his dripping skin.

Callie rolled her eyes. "He has _no_ idea." She started towards the exit.

"I'm just glad everyth-" Charlie stopped in his tracks, a sharp pain socking him deep in the gut. He hunched over resting his hands on his knees as he breathed deeply. "W- wait, Cal…"

Callie turned, immediately concerned when she saw the look on Charlie's face. "Char?" She rushed to him, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Are you ok?" Realization hit her as she took her hand off of his shoulder and looked at it closely. "Um… Charlie… Brad's hand was wet when he touched you..."

Charlie's whole body shuddered uncontrollably as his legs suddenly felt weak. His shoulder began to feel tingly, the feeling spreading towards his chest before moving down towards his navel.

"Holy shit." He paled, feeling things inside shift in a way he'd only felt once before. "Cal- I know this is ridiculous timing… but I think I'm changing." He grimaced, keeling over to the ground on his hands and knees.

"Come on. _NOW_." Callie said firmly, gripping Charlie around the shoulders tightly, trying to drag him with her as she searched for the nearest escape.

Charlie couldn't take another step as a stronger wave of electric pain rippled down his spine and into the tops of his thighs.

"Charlie, we've got to _move_." Callie grunted as she supported most of his body weight.

Charlie grimaced, trying to breathe and walk, but finding both difficult. "Is it supposed to hurt this much?" He was finally able to get out.

"You can ask Lucy later." Callie wrenched open the door to the training pool, relieved to find it empty. "Everyone's at the meet. In here, quick."

Charlie's forehead broke out into a cold sweat as he practically fell through the door. His stomach was flipping as if he were on a roller coaster as he felt his body beginning to shift and change. It was the strangest sensation he'd ever experienced, as if he were being molded from the inside out.

"Shit." He managed to say before pitching forward onto the cool tile floor, his legs no longer willing to hold him up. He caught himself hard on his hands, flipping himself over onto his back as Callie hurriedly locked the only entrance. She ran to his side, crouching next to him.

"It's happening…" Charlie panted. He could feel it, the changing. Suddenly, the pain disappeared, though the tingling only intensified. He gripped Callie's hand tightly as he felt his legs go numb. Charlie's eyes widened in shock as he watched his legs elongate several inches, connecting as they morphed. He groaned, letting his head drop back as the electric tingling shot down to his toes… but they didn't feel quite like toes anymore.

He could feel his legs becoming one, knitting together. It wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as he'd ever expected it to be; it almost felt… good. He pulled his head up, forcing himself to watch as delicate golden scales began forming a few inches below his navel before travelling down his legs, or what _had been_ his legs.

His shirt and swimsuit seemed to vanish into thin air as the rest of his skin shifted and transformed. His skin took on a glittery, almost glowing quality to it as he watched his feet expand to flare into a delicate fin at the end of a beautifully powerful-looking tail, his transformation finally complete.

Both Charlie and Callie were breathing heavily as the he completed the change. For the first time, Charlie allowed himself to take a long, close look at what he had turned into. He pushed his upper body into a kind-of sitting position, finding it slightly more difficult to support himself while bent at the waist.

Hesitantly, he ran his hand down what had been his legs, delicately touching the beautiful scales. He gave his tail an experimental flip, surprised at how easily he could control it.

"Wow…" Callie breathed, her eyes glued on Charlie's new body. "How do you feel?"

"I feel … different." In truth, Charlie wasn't sure what to say, there was no way to put it into words. "This is strange." He ran his fingers along his hips where the scales melded into his skin, marveling at how seamless the connection was.

"You look… pretty great." Callie admitted. "You rock the fin, man."

"How do I change back?" A pang of panic hit Charlie like a truck as he flopped back and forth in search of something to use to hold himself up.

"Oh, just chill out, it's easy." Callie grabbed a dry towel from a nearby bin and threw it around Charlie's shoulders. "Just dry off."

Hastily, Charlie scrubbed at his shoulder, still wet from Brad's touch. Seconds later, he could feel himself changing again. Changing back happened a lot quicker, the rush of tingling passing over him in just a few seconds this time. His legs reappeared, as did his clothing. "Whoa…" He murmured, entranced.

"There ya go, human again." Callie dropped down beside him. "You feeling ok?"

"Actually, I feel good. _Really_ good." In fact, Charlie would have been embarrassed to admit just _how_ good the change had felt. It was the most amazing feeling he'd ever experienced, and it made him feel things he hadn't realized were possible.

The pair sat in silence for several seconds, each breathing hard in excitement.

"I changed." Charlie said out lout, still trying to wrap his brain around what had just happened. "Cal," He looked at her, meeting her eyes. "I _changed_."

"You bet your mer-ass you did." Callie nodded approvingly. "We should tell your folks, they'll want to start training you up."

"Training?" Charlie shakily pulled himself to his feet.

"Well, duh." Callie helped him get his balance, offering a steadying arm. "You've got to learn how to control your powers, how to handle a water emergency, how to get to Mako…"

"That island?" Charlie frowned as he took a hesitant step, testing his weight. "What's out there?"

"It's where our moms changed for the first time." Callie unlocked the door and opened it a few inches, checking to make sure the hall was clear."There's this weird cavern out there, they call it the moon pool. It's super special to mer-people, I've heard them talking about it. I've never been allowed out there."

"Ok." Charlie tried to compose his thoughts as he took a couple unsteady steps out into the hall, but they were still wild with excitement. "So…" He lowered his voice. "Am I, like, officially a merman now?"

"It sure looks like it." Callie followed him, watching him closely to see how he was handing things.

"Alright…" Charlie was waiting for panic to set in, but it never came. Instead, he felt almost content. There was something about finally _knowing_ that comforted him. No more uncertainty, no more waiting for something to happen every time he touched water. It had happened, and it felt good. He looked at his friend, feeling suddenly grateful.

"I missed you." He said, realizing just how lucky he was that Callie had been there that day.

Callie stopped, surprised at his unexpected gentleness. "Um… of course you did. I'm awesome." She shrugged, two spots of pink appearing on her cheeks. "So… we'll swing by the café and break the news to your Dad, then I'm sure he'll want you to get straight home.

"It's a plan." Charlie said confidently, following Callie down the steps and out of the building, his legs feeling stronger every step of the way.


	7. First Times

Rikki's café had changed over the years, but not much. It was still decorated in traditional beach chic and was still just as popular as it had been when it opened so many years ago. Sure, they'd hit a rough patch or two over the years, but for the most part it was still the hot spot in town for the locals.

"I want to stop by the marine park after this." Charlie was saying as they pushed through the beaded entryway. "Check my schedule for next week, see if maybe I can get a few days off." His eyes flickered across the busy café. "Dad must be in his office."

Zane looked up when Charlie and Callie walked in. He blinked several times, almost as if he didn't recognize them, before focusing in. "Callie, Char. I didn't know you two were stopping by."

"We… just decided to drop in." Charlie said hesitantly, noticing a palpable tension in the air.

"And we're glad to see ya." Lewis stood abruptly, making the pair jump. They hadn't seen him sitting on the couch behind them.

"Is everything alright?" Callie frowned, the stressed look on her father's face not escaping her notice.

"Oh, just fine." Lewis answered easily. "Just talking business stuff."

"Serious stuff." Callie raised an eyebrow but didn't push the topic.

"Nothing worth wasting time on." Lewis shrugged. "What are you two up to today?"

"Charlie changed." Callie blurted out, unable to contain the news any longer. "Just a little while ago, at the swim meet."

"Like, _changed_ changed?" Lewis's voice grew slightly higher.

"Did anyone see you?" Zane paled as he stood tensely behind his desk. "What were you even _doing_ at a swim-"

"No, no. No one saw me." Charlie said quickly. "It was only for a couple of minutes, we were alone."

"Thanks to me." Callie muttered before raising her voice so the others could hear her. "He looks great, too. Really, a top-notch tail." She nudged Charlie jokingly, but he couldn't look away from Zane's expression.

Charlie waited, but the look on Zane's race remained steadfastly grim. "So…" He continued awkwardly. "I… guess we should… tell mom?"

"Zane?" Lewis prompted after a few moments of silence.

"What?" Zane shook himself a bit, forcing himself back into the room. He cleared his throat before speaking. "I'll call your mother, you get yourself home. And be _careful._ " He leveled his stern gaze at his son before pushing his way out of the office.

Silence fell over the office as the door slammed shut behind him.

"Well he's sure thrilled." Charlie's voice dripped with a mixture of sarcasm and bitterness as he watched his father disappear.

"Hey." Lewis clapped Charlie on the back, making an effort to sound extra chipper. "Give him some time to adjust. He's… well, he'd got a lot on his plate right now."

Charlie snorted. "Yeah, and I don't. Just, you know, the whole transforming into a _merman_ thing-"

"You heard the man!" Callie gave Lewis a mock salute before grabbing Charlie's elbow. "Hi ho, home we go…"

"You are _so_ weird." Charlie muttered as he followed behind her.

* * *

"Charlie…" Rikki pulled him into a bone-crushing hug the moment he stepped in the house.

"That's just cute." Callie dropped her bag next to the door and headed to the kitchen to grab an apple.

"Your Dad called." Rikki rocked him back and forth as if he were a child. She pulled back, cupping his face in both hands. "How was it? How are you feeling? Are you handling things alright?"

"Geez, Mom, I'm fine." Charlie shrugged out of her grip, feeling suddenly embarrassed, as if they were discussing something very personal. "It was… fine."

"You're going to have to be _so_ much more careful from now on, Char, you get that?"

"I get it, I get it." Charlie rolled his shoulders, stretching his neck. "I've already heard that speech ten times, Mom. I promise, I'll be more careful from now on."

Callie cleared her throat pointedly, but didn't say a word.

"You're going to have to quit your job at the marine park, too." Rikki continued chattering.

"What?" Charlie frowned, tilting his head to one side. "Why? I'll be careful, and Aunt Cleo worked at the park for _years_ after she turned-"

"And do you know how many close calls she had while she worked there? We're incredibly lucky we were never caught. We were silly kids, learn from our mistakes. You're quitting."

"A couple weeks." Charlie pushed. "I'll take a couple weeks off to get a handle on things. Then, when I'm a pro, I'll go back to my job. C'mon Mom, I can handle it. Besides…" He shoved his hands into his pockets, already feeling guilty for what he was about to say. "I _am_ an adult. You can't force me to quit."

Rikki's jaw tightened as she spoke quietly, but firmly. "You live under my roof. You'll do as I say, especially when it comes to…" She waved a hand towards his legs. "All this stuff."

"Mom," Charlie took one step closer to her. "I _like_ my job. It's all I've got."

Rikki tapped her fingers on the counter anxiously. "I'll have to talk to your father about it. We'll discuss it later."

"Sooooo, Mrs. B." Callie took a big bite of apple as she dropped into a kitchen chair, clearly ready to break some of the tension that was steadily building. "Ol' Fins here, and me were thinking about heading out to Mako later-"

"Absolutely not. Not yet." Rikki shook her head vehemently. "He needs more practice before he heads out into the open ocean."

"Hey." Callie shrugged. "Just saying, the full moon is only two days away. He should probably get acquainted with the Moon Pool, maybe the pull won't be as strong."

"No, it'll be stronger." Rikki rubbed her temple with the back of her hand. "He isn't ready to handle the moon-"

"Excuse me?" Charlie piped up. "You two do know I'm standing _right_ here, right?"

"You can practice in the pool for a couple hours. With supervision." Rikki said firmly. "We'll talk about going out in the ocean later."

"I can handle that. Won't let him out of my site." Callie hopped up. "Sound like a plan, Ariel?"

"Sure." Charlie smirked, flipping the bird at Callie when his mother wasn't watching. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he _did_ want to get back in the water as soon as possible. He was anxious to actually swim with his fin. "So?" He looked at Callie. "Out to the pool?"

"Wait ten minutes. I'll come out with you." Rikki checked her watch. "I need to make a call."

"C'mon, Mom…" Charlie groaned. "Callie can 'supervise' me." He rolled his eyes. "Do I really need parental monitoring? I'm twenty years old…"

"And you've been a merman for less than a day." Rikki was still preoccupied with her phone. "My house, remember? I'll parentally monitor you all I want. I'll be right back." She hurried to the study, pulling the door closed behind her.

"I didn't think they could get any more over-protective than they already were." Charlie sighed, dropping onto the couch. "Now I can't even go swimming at my own house without my _Mommy_. Great."

"Oh lighten up." Callie sat beside him, leaning against him. "She's just nervous."

"She's been nervous my whole _life._ " Charlie rolled his head on the back of the couch until he could see her. "You'd think that now I've final changed the pressure would be off."

"Eh." Callie shrugged. "My parents still call Lucy every single day. One time, she didn't answer and they drove all the way out there to make sure she was ok. She was in bed with her boyfriend when they barged into her dorm. Man, she was _pissed_ …"

Charlie sighed, looking up at the ceiling. Was this his life now? Only allowed to venture outside when his parents gave him permission to leave the house? Was this worth it? They were trying to avoid being captured, or discovered, but what was the point if they had to be so caged?

"This is bullshit." He ran a tired hand through his hair, feeling his muscles twitch with desire. He wanted to get back into the water _now._

"Aw, poor baby." Callie mocked him. "Suck it up, everything's going to be just fine."

The pair looked up as Rikki reappeared, tucking her phone into her pants pocket as she walked. "Change of plans. We can hit the pool for a bit, but no longer than a couple hours. There's a meeting here tonight."

Callie perked up. "Can we come? I mean, we're all in the know now."

"Ah…" Rikki bit her lip. "You know, I actually think that's a good idea. There've been some developments in our situation."

"Something _other_ than me turning into a full-on merman?" Charlie raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, actually." Rikki sighed anxiously. "But it does have to do with us mer-people. There's… a lot you two are going to need to hear. Cleo, Will, Lewis, and Bella will all be here at nine."

"We'll be here." Charlie nodded.

"Good." Rikki's phone chimed. "I have to take this." She flipped her phone open, holding her hand over the speaker. "Fine. You two go on ahead. I'll leave you to it for ten minutes. _Be careful_." She gave each of them a pointed look before stepping back into the study.

"C'mon!" Charlie didn't need to be told twice. He caught Callie's elbow, practically dragging her behind him as he dashed for the back door.

The sun had only just set, the stars reflecting like tiny diamonds off the surface of the water.

Charlie stood at the edge of the deep end, taking in a long, deep breath as butterflies kicked up in his stomach. He let the breath out slowly, suddenly nervous.

"Um, Charlie?" Callie called from the gate hesitantly, a thought occurring to her. "Do you, um, want some privacy? I mean, I can 'supervise' from the pool shed or something if you want a few minutes to-"

"Stay." The word escaped his lips before he'd even realized he'd said it. "I mean," He looked down at his feet. "You can stay if you want. Either way."

"Ok then." Callie latched the gate, but stayed back to give him a bit of space. "You ready?

"This is it." Charlie looked out over the pool.

"This is it." Callie leaned her back on the fence, shoving her hands in her pockets.

The only sound in the warm night was the lapping of the pool over the concrete edges. Charlie closed his eyes, taking in one last calming breath before bending his knees and swinging his arms behind him before pushing off hard out into the black water.

The moment he submerged, he could feel the changes beginning inside him. It happened much more quickly this time, the shivers rippling through his body in waves. His stomach flipped and twisted as a wave of euphoria passed over him. A few seconds passed before the physical changes began. A tightening sensation spread across his hips and up to his navel. His shoulders hunched, shuddering, as he wrapped his arms tightly around himself. He felt his legs connect to each other, the strange feeling reminding him of the magnets he'd worked with in college. Moments later, he lost the feeling in his feet. The numbing wave spread up to his knees as he felt his body growing longer, stretching in ways he'd never thought possible. He arched his back, his legs swinging back behind him.

He startled himself when he felt something graze the back of his head. It took him a second to realize that it was his _fin._ He'd arched into an almost perfect circle and this tip of his flare, gossamer fin was brushing his hair. Flexing his muscles, he swung his new appendage back down and around, bending at the waist to look closely at what he had become.

Charlie ran his hand over himself in amazement, feeling the place where his skin seamlessly melded into smooth shimmering scales. His hands travelled down, lightly cupping around the satiny, flared ends. An aftershock rippled over him from head to toe as his heart slammed against his chest. The scales were smooth under his hands, delicate, over what had been skin minutes ago.

He curved his tail out in front of him, marveling at how it bent in such a smooth, unfamiliar way. It was like the bones in his legs had become flexible. Or had disappeared altogether, he remembered. These were no longer legs, they were one fin. Who knew how he was built?

He bent forward, laying his chest down on his new fin, feeling for the first time like he could move freely; unrestricted.

It was the most incredible think he'd ever felt in his whole life. He felt charged, energized. Ready to swim for miles without stopping for anything. He gave his tail an experimental flip, surprised at how easily it powered him forward. He reared back and then rolled his hips, letting his arms fall to his sides as he flew towards the pool wall in front of him. He hit hard, catching himself with both hands. He placed one hand in front of the other, walking himself up the wall to the surface. He looked around for Callie, who was already running towards him.

"Oh my god, oh my god." She was saying over and over as she slid to kneel in front of him. " _Nice_ , man. It looks way cooler in the water."

"Thanks." Charlie gasped, shaking water from his hair. "Damn."

"Damn, just _look_ at you!" Callie couldn't contain herself. "Is it awesome?"

"Pretty awesome." Charlie tried to normalize his breathing, but it was hard to force himself to be calm. This was all so overwhelming…

"I'm coming in." Callie yanked off her t-shirt as she jumped to her feet.

"Meet you in the shallow end." Charlie dunked back down, taking his time to work his way to the far end of the pool.

Callie plunged into the water next to him, staying underneath with her eyes open until the bubbles cleared so that she could get a proper look. She guessed Charlie was now about seven feet long from head to tail, and his entire lower half shimmered with golden scales.

The pair surfaced, rubbing water out of their eyes as Charlie grabbed onto the wall for support. There was no sound, save for their heavy breathing and the constant lapping of the water around them.

Callie's eyes were locked on Charlie's, and his on hers as they both felt themselves calming a bit.

"Funny." Charlie broke the silence a few moments later, taking in a deep breath. "I always assumed the fin would be green." He leaned back on his elbows so that he could float his fin up in front of him.

"Why?" Callie couldn't help but giggle. "Because of The Little Mermaid?"

"Shut up." Charlie splashed a wave of water in her direction.

"So?" The voice startled them. They jumped before snapping their heads to look back towards the gate.

Rikki jogged into the pool deck a moment later. "How'd it go?" Her eyes searched for just a moment before zeroing in on Charlie. "Are you… Did you change?" She crouched down in front of him.

Wordlessly, Charlie pushed backwards off the pool wall with his arms, letting his fin float up in front of him in clear view.

Rikki clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes welling with happiness. "Oh Charlie…" She spoke softly after a moment. "How do you feel?"

"Good." Charlie nodded. "I feel pretty good, Mom."

"I'm glad." Rikki could not contain the smile that spread across her face. She didn't hesitate, barely taking the time to toss her cell phone on the table before diving into the water as well.

Charlie watched, frozen in amazement, as he mother began to change. Like him, her lower body morphed into a long, shining fin, beginning inches below her belly button.

Charlie's eyes opened wide as he took it all in. He'd never seen his mother so free before, not in his entire life. For a moment, he fell lost in his thoughts, caught up thinking about how difficult it must have been to keep a secret as big as this one for all these years.

Rikki surfaced a few seconds later, fully transformed and sparkly-eyed. "C'mon." She gestured to Charlie. "Let's swim to the other end. Take it _slow._ "

Charlie followed her example, holding his arms in front of him like she did, and finding that the extra leverage on the water _did_ help him move more rapidly.

Rikki waved at him as they reached the wall, showing him how to whip around and go the other direction without stopping.

Charlie copied her clumsily, eventually getting twisted around to face the right direction to swim back. A feeling of pure glee rose in his chest as the water flowed over his skin. He loved the way this felt; he never wanted to swim any other way.

Rikki and Charlie reached the shallow end's wall at the same time, lifting their heads out of the water simultaneously.

"I'm so happy for you." Rikki reached up one hand to cup Charlie's cheek. "You're going to love it."

"I believe you." Charlie realized, for the first time, that he'd forgiven his mother for keeping the secret. The anger faded away as his imagination began to race with everything he'd be able to explore out in the ocean.

"Hello? You guys out here?" A familiar voice carried over the fence.

"It's Zane." Callie jogged to unlock the gate, then stepped back to allow him inside.

"So…" Zane shoved his hands into his pockets as he shuffled towards the pool. "Today really was _the_ day, huh?"

"It was." Charlie felt suddenly self-conscious with his father looking down at him.

Zane nodded. "Congrats, son." He then made a decent effort of smiling before turning to head back towards the house. The door closed tightly behind him.

"He's really not happy about me changing." Charlie's statement echoed off the walls.

"He'll come around." Rikki exhaled, watching as her husband disappeared into the house, and thinking about how different he'd used to be. "Be proud of yourself." She forced a smile to her face. "I'm going to talk to your Dad." She quickly pulled herself out of the water and held her hand out over her fin. Moments later, steam began billowing from it, as the heat she created immediately dried herself.

Charlie watched in shock, unable to tear his eyes away, "Am I going to be about to do that?"

"Who knows?" Rikki shrugged, still smiling. "I guess we'll see." She shot a quick grin to Callie before hurrying inside.

"Check this out." Charlie said to Callie as she moved to rest on the wall beside him.

Charlie held his hand out over the water, his brow furrowing with concentration as he tried to make the water move. To make it do _anything_.

Nothing happened.

Charlie rolled his shoulders, then tried again, holding his hand out flat over the water as he supported himself on the wall with his other elbow. He tried to remember how he'd felt when he'd made the water move be accident, while he was still human. Still nothing.

" _C'mon_." He muttered through gritted teeth, now almost shaking with effort.

"Hey. _Hey_." Callie shook his shoulder gently, letting her warm hands rest there while she spoke. "It's ok. Stop, you're going to give yourself a nose bleed."

Charlie let go of the tension, dropping his arm into the water. "Fine." He sighed, annoyed. "But I could move water before, why can't I do it now?"

"Give it _time_." Callie let her hand slide down his shoulder to rest on top of his, her fingertips intertwining gently with his own. She realized she was close enough to feel Charlie's hot breath on her face, but she didn't move away. He swallowed hard as he looked at her, suddenly drawn to her energy. She stayed there for a few seconds before clearing her throat.

"I mean, um…" She jerked her hand away from his, wading backwards towards the steps. "You know, I think I'm going to give you some time, ok? Ok." She climbed the steps quickly, splashing water all over the tiles. "You know, to adjust and all that."

"You don't need to go." Charlie swam after her, catching the wall closest to the gate.

"Yeah… yeah I do." Callie shrugged awkwardly. "I've got… homework. I'll come back and help you out of there before the meeting, ok?" She didn't wait for an answer before pushing her way through the gate and locking in behind her.

Charlie watched her go, unsure of what had just happened. So many different emotions were swirling in his head; he couldn't seem to focus in on just one. He let go of the stone wall, sinking down into the black. He powered himself to the deep end, making wide sweeps with his tail. He completed a couple big circles around the edge before settling down at the pool's bottom. He let his mind drift, utterly content and never wanting to get out of the water.


	8. New Chapters in Old Stories

Callie checked her watch, tapping her foot on the floor with boredom. Rikki and Zane had gone to their bedroom to talk, leaving her alone in the living room. The front door swung open as Will hurried inside.

"You're early." Callie stood. "Meeting doesn't start 'til nine."

"I know." Will's eyes scanned the room. "Where is Charlie?"

"You heard?" Callie's eyebrows rose slightly.

"Of course." Will nodded, frowning a bit. "We all got the message just after you'd left the café."

"Well, frankly, I'm glad you're here." Callie grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and popped the cap. "Rikki and Zane are having select words in their room, and Charlie's been out in the pool 'finding himself' for the last hour and a half."

"How's he handling it?" Will peered through the window blinds towards the direction of the pool.

"Not bad." Callie shrugged. "You know how it is."

"Thankfully, I do not." Will snatched the beer out of Callie's hand, taking a long swig.

"C'mon." Callie waved for Will to follow her." Let's go haul the merman out of the drink."

Charlie was swimming in lazy circles as they walked up. Callie flickered the pool light a few times to get his attention before joining Will at the pool's edge. Charlie flew up to the surface with so much force he almost launched himself clear out of the water. He settled, reaching for the pool rim before looking up. "Hey." He called to Will.

"Hey yourself." Will crossed his arms over his chest, observing. "You, uh, ready to hop out of there?"

"Already?" Charlie flipped over to float on his back, looking up at the stars.

"You bet." Callie straightened up, looking around. "Swim to the steps, k?" She jogged around to meet him.

With Callie and Will under each arm, they dropped him onto the pool deck moments later.

"Geez, guys, _easy."_ Charlie winced a bit as he pushed himself up to rest on his right hand and reach for a towel with the other.

"I've got it." Callie carried over a beach towel. "You dry your skin, I'll worry about your tail." She bent down and gently pressed the towel against the bottom of his fin.

Will's eyes darted from Callie to Charlie, a look of bemusement on his face. "I'm, uh, I'm going in to say hi to your folks." Will walked backwards, pausing at the gate. "Want me to get your mom? You know she could dry you off in five seconds…"

"I know." Charlie shrugged." But I'll need to get used to it anyway, right?"

"Fair enough,." Will waved, preoccupied, before locking the gate behind him.

Callie moved up a bit, sitting on her knees to keep toweling at Charlie's fin.

"Hey." Charlie startled her. He leaned back on his hands, looking at her for a moment.

Callie's face flushed as she shrugged, feeling suddenly self-conscious. "What?" She fidgeted, her arm resting on his fin.

"Just… thank you." Charlie spoke quietly, seriously. "I don't know what I would do without you."

Callie couldn't keep a smile from spreading across her face. Her brain rattled through its usual catalogue of sarcasm, but nothing fit. "You're welcome." She said simply before setting back to work drying him off, almost reaching the top of his fin.

Charlie hoped she knew how much he meant it. He couldn't imagine not being able to talk to her about all this. Callie had been such a good friend to him…

Callie froze for a moment before yanking her hand away from him as if it'd been bitten.

"Oh my god." She said quickly, jumping to her feet and turning her back to him as her face flushed a deep crimson. "Dude, I am _so_ sorry."

"Wha…" Charlie frowned, looking down at the towel Callie had dropped over his waist towards the top of his tail.

It was tented.

Charlie shoved his hand under the towel, shocked to find that, well, he was still decidedly… very _male_. After a bit of exploration, Charlie found that his penis had been sheathed under an extra layers of scales located several inches from where scales melded into skin. It felt almost the same as it had when he was a man, but… cooler. And harder.

Harder.

"Holy shit, Callie." Charlie's face turned instantly scarlet as he clutched the towel, covering himself. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen. I mean, I didn't even know I still had a… I mean, I'm just sorry."

"Erotic towel massage. I think I found my calling." Unable to look Charlie in the eye, Callie took a long swig of Will's beer.

Several awkward seconds of silence passed as the pair avoided each other's gaze.

"So I'll just see you inside then?"

"Sure, right." Charlie answered instantly, nodding as he watched Callie practically run towards the house. He waited to hear the door slam behind her before dropping to lay on his back, letting out a long sigh.

* * *

The living room was full by the time Charlie made it inside. Every eye focused in on him as he entered. Charlie waved awkwardly, his eyes searching for Callie. He spotted her alone on the loveseat and immediately headed her direction.

Callie averted her eyes, staring off in the other direction as Charlie dropped down next to her.

"Nice legs." Callie sounded like her usual self, though she still couldn't quite look at him.

"I'm really sorry about… you know, what happened out there." Charlie muttered, leaning in so that no one else could hear him speak.

"Hey, don't sweat it." Two spots of pink showed on her cheeks, but she finally met Charlie's gaze. "I mean…" She raised one eyebrow, a familiar look of coyness on her face. "It's no _big deal._ At all."

Charlie elbowed her as his parents stood, with Zane taking command of the room.

"Thanks for coming over, you guys." Zane ran a tired hand through his hair as he looked to Will, Bella, Cleo, Lewis, Charlie, and Callie in turn. "So, I've heard from my Dad, and we know what to expect for at least the next several weeks.

"Now, wait a tick, Zane…" Bella sat up. I think, first of all, _congratulations_ are in order…"

"That's right!" Lewis grinned, raising his glass.

Several hands reached out to slap Charlie on the shoulder as congratulatory cheers were shouted out.

"Alright, pull it together guys." Zane stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "Guys!" He clapped his hands loudly to get everyone's attention. "Please!"

Silence fell across the room. Bella slumped back into the couch, rolling her eyes. "Oh, get on with it, then."

"I'm sorry." Zane's voice became gentler, weary. "We just have so much to cover, and we still have to explain the whole thing to Callie and Charlie."

"It's fine." Rikki placed a hand on Zane's shoulder, standing next to him reassuringly. "Guys…" She turned to face the loveseat. Alright, I need to tell you about something that happened when we were kids. And then, we _all_ have to have a discussion." She looked at each of them separately. "Ok, listen closely."

"Yeah." Zane took a deep breath. "And I think I'll let the girls tell all this first bit; I'm getting a beer." He turned swiftly to stalk into the kitchen.

"I'm sorry, guys." Rikki sighed watching as he disappeared. "This one is still a pretty touchy subject for him."

"Just go on." Cleo said as she leaned forward, resting her chin in one hand.

Rikki breathed deeply. "Ok. Alright, guys." She turned to Callie and Charlie. "When we were young, and still relatively new to this whole mermaid thing, there was this scientist who did some research in the area." Rikki paced as she spoke.

"Denman." Cleo straightened up.

"It was before we'd met Bella." Rikki nodded, continuing,. "Our friend Emma was still in town. And Lewis…" She shot him a look. "Lewis became, shall we say… _smitten_ with the scientist in town briefly to study the habitual patterns of Mako Island. Fell in love with her, practically-"

"Hey now." Lewis shifted uncomfortable in his seat.

"It's _fine_ , Lewis." Cleo wrapped a reassuring arm around his shoulder, pulling him in tightly.

"Anyway…" Rikki stopped pacing right in front of the loveseat. "I'll just leave out all the extraneous details… but Denman caught us. As mermaids. She trapped the three of us, Emma, Cleo, and me, out on Mako. She wanted to run tests on us."

"Bitch." Bella muttered, crossing her arms.

"Seriously?" Callie sat up, concerned. She looked to each of her parents in turn. "How have I never heard about this?"

"We… don't discuss it much." Cleo patted Lewis's knee. She lowered her voice, leaning towards Callie as if she were telling a secret. "Your father doesn't like to be reminded about his role in the event. Well, and neither does Zane."

"Zane played a bigger role than Lewis did." Rikki also spoke in hushed tones, her eyes glued to the floor in front of her. "Really, he practically led Denman to us. But," She shook herself out of her momentary trance. "He didn't know what he was doing. We just don't discuss that time in our lives much."

"Until lately, anyway." Bella spoke up.

"Right." Rikki continued. "Anyway, we ended up tricking her into thinking we were just regular humans, but not before she'd collected quite a lot of evidence."

"What kind of evidence?"Charlie frowned.

"Pictures." Rikki ticked the items on her fingers. "A cell sample that changed its genetic makeup upon contact with water, some video, general data she was able to collect before we got rid of her."

"Soo.. You said you tricked her into thinking you were human?" Callie spoke slowly. "How?"

Cleo spoke up. "It's a thing, once every fifty years, the full moon can take away powers for a twelve hour period."

"And after that she just left you alone?" Charlie asked incredulously. "Just like that?"

"No."Rikki sighed. "And that's why we're all meeting tonight. Things are going to be changing, and in a big way."

"How so?" this time Will stepped forward, his expression grim.

"Our contract with Denman is expiring." Zane stepped out of the shadows, his jaw clenched tightly.

Charlotte and Lewis gave a definite reaction, slumping back into the couch in anger. However, they were the only two other than Rikki and Zane who seemed to know what was going on.

"Contract?" Will raised a shoulder.

"Zane?" Rikki gestured for him to speak. "Why don't you handle this part?"

Zane crossed his arms over his chest, taking a wide stance in the middle of the room. "My Dad had a contract drawn up with Denman back then, right after everything happened." He shuffled his feet a bit. "We didn't know anything about it, but Denman had been planning on taking the research she had collected on the girls and going public with it. The pictures, cell sample, everything. Even without the girls themselves, she thought she had enough to prove to the world that mermaids could exist." Zane paused, the tension in the room palpable. "My Dad forced her to sign a contract that stated that if she published even a _word_ of the mermaid research or _anything_ even related to mermaids, he would sue her for using his sponsorship dollars on something other than the fish counts she was hired to collect. Not only would she have owed him just shy of four million dollars, but she also would have faced jail time. It was enough to shut her up back then.

"Alright…" Cleo prompted. "So what's going on now?"

Zane let out a long, slow, exhale. "It expired."

"Expired?!" Lewis stood, anger clear on his face.

"Well, _is_ expiring." Zane said unhappily. "I didn't know anything about it then, my Dad only told me a few months ago." Zane almost seemed to be talking to himself instead of the rest of the group. "My Dad couldn't legally get her to agree to anything that banned her research completely. He could only delay it. He ended up buying us twenty-five years of Denman's silence, but it's running out."

"So what does that mean, exactly?" Cleo asked worriedly, reaching for Lewis's hand.

"What it means, is that Denman will be publishing her research from twenty-five years ago." Zane clenched his jaw tightly. "She'll be announcing to the world that mermaids exist."

"What?" Bella jumped to her feet. "She _can't_ , she just-"

"We won't let her." Will cut her off vehemently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok." Zane held up a hand, gesturing for everyone to quiet down. "At least, it's kind of ok." He swallowed, pausing.

"Keep going, Zane." Bella waved him on nervously.

"Since you guys… all of us… were minors, and she _did_ obtain most of her data illegally, she won't be able to give any of our names or personal information." Zane stammered out.

"So… what _can_ she say, exactly?" Lewis shifted in his seat.

"She can show her photos, but only with the faces blocked out so you girls can't be identified. She can share all of her research on the cell sample she found, the one that reacted to water. All of her theories, everything she's seen an recorded, all of her _theories…_ "

"And the moon pool?" Cleo asked softly.

Zane nodded, his eyes glued to the floor in front of him. "She can release everything she knows about the moon pool."

Silence fell over the room, each of them momentarily lost in their thoughts,

"Does… Denman know how to become a mermaid?" Bella spoke up after several seconds.

"I don't think so." Rikki shook her head. "Or I'd think she'd have made it happen by now."

"But she does know that all it takes is one drop of water and _bang_ , fin." Lewis rubbed his temple, exhausted.

"We won't be certain of what she does or doesn't know until she publishes." Zane said grimly. "But you're _all_ ," He shot a pointed look in Charlie's direction. "Going to need to be ten times more careful than you usually are, got it?" He looked to either side before continuing, "Denman's research may not be taken seriously. It might just fade away into obscurity, but if even _one_ scientist sets up cameras…"

"We're caught." Rikki finished grimly.

"No one will take her seriously." Will paced angrily. "It's way too wild, she'll get laughed at."

"She's got some pretty compelling research though," Lewis worried. "That cell sample alone-"

"Guys… guys." Rikki held up both hands to quiet the chatter. "She can't expose us. We're safe as long as we're all careful. She thought we were human back then, she probably still thinks that."

"What's to keep her from publishing all of our names anyway?" Cleo raised and dropped her shoulders. "Defying the order?"

"Prison." Zane spoke clearly. "Same thing that's kept her from exposing us for all these years. My  
Dad put some kind of clause in the contract she signed. Since we were _so_ young and what she did was _so_ illegal… I mean, there would be four cases of kidnapping brought up against her immediately, and that's just the start of it. She also would have been on the hook for the millions my Dad had paid her; it was enough to do the trick then, it should hold now. And now she thinks that you girls are all human, so as long as we keep our distance from her… everything should be fine."

"Not just girls anymore." Charlie spoke for the first time in several moments, drawing every eye in the room.

"Right." Rikki nodded. "So, um, _all_ of us are going to need to be extra careful."

"And Mako?" Bella furrowed her brow as she leaned forward.

Rikki looked at her feet, sighing. "I really think we should nix all trips out there. Immediately. Denman knows that place holds significance, she could set up more cameras."

"And this time there's not much we can do about it if she records any of us." Lewis sank further into his seat.

Will exhaled audibly, his hands resting on his hips. "So when is she publishing?"

"Not sure exactly." Zane crossed his arms. "But soon, I expect."

"I'll ask into it." Lewis spoke up. "The science world is small, someone at work will have heard something."

"Just don't ask too loudly." Cleo cautioned. "Don't draw attention."

"Of course not." Lewis took Cleo's hand in his own.

"So that's that." Zane shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Denman will be telling the world that mermaids are real. All we can do is wait and see if anyone takes her seriously."

"We'll need to warn Lucy, and _quick_." Lewis said, distracted as his phone began ringing in his pocket. He checked the caller ID as he continued speaking. "I mean, It's not out of the realm of possibility that Denman could track her down from her college records…" He held his phone up, flipping it open. "Sorry guys, I've got to take this." Lewis excused himself to the office, shutting the door behind him.

Rikki turned to Charlie and Callie. "You two realize how serious this is, right? Even you, Callie. You'll need to be extra careful just in case."

"I get it, Mrs. B." Callie nodded. "It's just an awful lot to take in."

"We have no reason to worry." Cleo tried to sound reassuring, but she didn't fool anyone. "As long as we stay away from Denman we'll be just fine."

"Hey, uh, everybody?" Lewis stepped back into the living room, his face uncharacteristically worried. He waved his phone in the air awkwardly. "That was the lab from work. A, um…" He looked down for a moment before leveling his eyes at the rest of the now-silent group.

"Denman wants to meet with me. Tomorrow."


	9. Moons, Madness, and Milking It

Both Rikki and Zane stayed home from work the next day, each of them anxious to hear from Lewis, who promised to phone immediately following the meeting.

Charlie looked up from his phone, surprised, as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "No work today?" He asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"We're waiting to hear from Lewis." Zane's eyes never left his paper as he spoke.

"His meeting with Denman started ten minutes ago." Rikki's smile was half-hearted. "So we're just waiting it out. Cleo should be here before too much longer."

"Gotcha." Charlie's eyes darted towards the window, where the sun streamed inside. "So… I was thinking I'd just hop in the pool for a quick-"

Absolutely not." Zane snapped his paper onto the table. "I mean, honestly, Char. With all that's going on you think it's a good idea to go _swimming_? Why not just call up Linda Denman and hand her a camera while you're at it-"

"Zane!" Rikki's voice cut him off sharply before she turned to face Charlie, apologetic. "Maybe another day, alright?"

Charlie visibly deflated, his eyes still searching outside. "But we have the walls, and the cover…"

"I know." Rikki nodded gently. "But people may be trying… harder… to catch us. We'll figure things out after Lewis calls, once we know what we're dealing with." She took a step closer to her son. "I _get_ it. You know that, right? I've been right there with you _so_ many times. It'll get easier."

"Sure, whatever." Charlie couldn't keep the disappointment out of his voice. It was the strangest feeling, like he could feel the water pulling him outside. He needed to swim.

Rikki watched her son closely, knowing exactly what was going through his head. She hated that his first few days as a merman would be in captivity. She sighed. "Why don't you call Callie?" She suggested. "Maybe she'll come over with her mother?"

"Yeah." Charlie said, distracted as he looked out the back window at the shimmering pool water. "Maybe I'll do that." He headed sullenly back up the stairs to get his phone.

Rikki watched him go, waiting until his door had closed behind him before turning to her husband. "Be a little _less_ understanding, Zane." She said bitterly as she grabbed her coffee cup from the table and tossed its contents angrily into the sink. She turned to slam both hands on the table, leaning forward so that her face was inches from his. "Your son is a merman. I'm a mermaid. You're just going to have to accept it, no matter how much you hate it." She shot him one more icy look before storming out of the room and down the hall.

Zane let his head drop, jumping slightly as Rikki slammed the office door. "I accept it." He said to himself quietly. "I just hope the rest of the world will."

Charlie paced his bedroom floor, trying to convince himself that he didn't want, no… _need_ to swim. He restlessly grabbed at his phone, checking to see if Callie had replied to the message he'd sent a few minutes ago.

' _On my way in a few, have to turn in a paper first.'_

Charlie exhaled audibly. Mako Island and the ocean were definitely no-zones, his parents wouldn't even let him get in their own, enclosed, pool

But…

He opened his bedroom door, casting a quick look down the hall. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing.

Charlie closed the bathroom door behind him, grabbing several towels from the hall closet. If he wasn't allowed to leave the house, the very _least_ his parents could do was let him take a bath.

He pushed the lock on the door before turning on the water. He twisted the knob quickly, watching as water rushed into the porcelain tub. Without waiting to think anymore, he jumped inside with a splash, sitting flat on the cool tile. He gasped as the cold water hit his warm skin.

It wasn't cool for long. In fact, barely a moment later the water felt warm and comfortable. Charlie kept his eyes open, watching as the transformation began. Just as before, his clothing seemed to vanish into thin air as his legs elongated. The golden scales reflected off the white tile, creating an almost glow around his now-connected legs.

Charlie tried to pull himself up a bit with his arms as his tail extended further than he'd expected it to, hanging over the tub's edge. He craned his neck, looking himself over.

"Not bad." He couldn't help but smirk to himself.

He closed his eyes, stretching his chest until his back hand arched almost out of the water. He exhaled, letting his head submerge as he relished in the quiet of the warm water. He could feel the stress of his day float away as he allowed himself to drift off underwater.

BREAK

Zane jumped as someone knocked sharply on the front door.

"Lewis?" Zane rolled his eyes, nodding his friend inside. "I thought you were going to call?"

"Was talking to Cleo, came straight here." Lewis said as he pushed his way inside. He was visibly disheveled, and more than a little out of breath. "She's on her way here too." He stumbled over to the fridge.

"And?" Zane followed closely. "Did you have your meeting with Denman?"

Lewis snorted into the mouth of the beer bottle he'd just opened before taking a long swig. "Did I meet with Denman…" He muttered, shaking his head. "She's a bitch, man." He clenched his jaw, locking eyes with Zane. "I knew she was evil but…" He sighed, taking another lengthy pull from the bottle.

"What did she _say_?" Zane crossed his arms tightly over his chest, frustration clear in his tone.

"We need to wait for Rik-" Lewis began.

"I'm here, Lewis." Rikki breezed into the kitchen, joining the pair. "Tell us what she said."

"I'm going, I'm going." Lewis ran a stressed hand through his hand, his eyes darting around the room. "Should we wait for Will and Bell-"

"Lewis!" Zane and Rikki wore matching expressions of exasperation as they spoke at the same time.

"Ok, ok." Lewis swallowed. "So I had the meeting with Denman. And guys," He shook his head. "I'm not sure she knows as much as she thinks she does."

"Yeah?" Zane crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah." Lewis nodded.

Rikki raised her eyebrows. "And this is bad news because…."

"She wants information." Lewis said seriously, looking at each of them in turn. "Actively. And she's willing to pay for it." He paused, taking in a breath. "Denman has been offering people thousands of dollars looking for any information she can get. She called me in for the meeting to offer me, get this," He shook his head. "She offered me $15,000 to work with her and tell her everything I've known. And she's willing to offer any of you the same deal. And…" He clenched his jaw. "She'll give $25,000 to any mermaid willing to cooperate with her research."

Zane cleared his throat. "Just the research?"

"She'd want them to help provide proof as well." Lewis nodded.

"So… she'd want us to go public." Rikki spoke slowly.

"Right." Lewis's eyes fell to the floor. "$25,000 to go public."

"Unbelievable." Zane muttered.

A silence fell over the trio as they processed the new information.

"Why don't you do it?"

The voice startled the adults, whose eyes immediately darted to the speaker.

Charlie stepped forward, shoving his hands in his pockets as he shrugged his shoulders. "Why don't you just work with her?"

"Excuse me?" Zane stepped forward angrily.

Charlie raised one shoulder. "It's a lot of money. And she's going to release her data anyway… Wouldn't it make everything easier to team up with her instead of fighting her?"

"I am not listening to this." Zane shook his head as he stalked out of the room, his eyes glaring at Charlie for just a moment before he made it through the door.

Rikki took a couple of steps towards her son. "You're not being serious…. Right?"

"Mom, she's going public with or without us." Charlie repeated, looking Rikki dead in the eye. "And she's offering a _lot_ of money. Odds are good that people will find out about us eventually. Why not make it easier on ourselves?"

"I… think I'll… go talk to Zane." Lewis waved awkwardly before ducking out of the room, anxious to escape the conversation.

"Charlie…" Rikki spoke hesitantly. "You understand why we can never, _ever_ go public, right?"

Charlie sighed, his fists fidgeting in his pockets. "I mean, I know it's not ideal, but-"

"Not ideal?" Rikki's eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. "You'd be losing _all_ your freedom, Char. You'd never have privacy ever again, you'd lose any semblance of a personal life."

"But if we work with her we'll have some say in what happens." Charlie shrugged. "If we cooperate with her we can manage things, control it-"

"There's no controlling it." Rikki cut in, a little too loudly. She paused, trying to soften her tone. "Charlie, you would never be able to walk outside this house again without being swarmed with people. Once they find out how to make you change they'll throw water at you _constantly_." Rikki began pacing, her eyes glued to the ground in front of her. "You'd never be able to go anywhere or do anything without the whole world knowing about it. And that's assuming they even allow you to live outside a facility."

"I'm just saying…" Charlie held his hands up. "Aren't your, _our_ chances better if we work alongside her? We could draw up a new contract, work out details-"

"There won't be a new contract." Rikki leaned on the counter tiredly. "We have no leverage, nothing to use to get Denman to negotiate with us-"

"You're joking, right?" Charlie laughed. "You have exactly what she wants. _Information_. All of it. And you can use it all to leverage a good deal."

"And if we admit we have that information we immediately _lose_ that leverage." Rikki said seriously. "By telling Denman that we have the information she wants, we admit our involvement. We expose ourselves. She goes public with her data, follows us until one of us slips up, and we're done."

"Geez, Mom, you make it sound like she's going to kill us." Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Don't underestimate her." Rikki's voice pierced the quiet.

Callie came bursting into the kitchen a moment later, startling Rikki and Charlie.

"Sorry, my mom says she'll be here in ten." Callie stopped, gauging the tension in the room. "Is… everything ok?"

"Absolutely." Rikki said grimly, locking eyes with Charlie one last time before marching into the other room to talk to Zane and Lewis.

"So…" Callie's eyes were wide as they darted from Charlie to the door Rikki had just breezed through. "Um…" She seemed to be searching for an innocuous conversation starter. "So, you ready for the full moon tomorrow night?"

"Right, the full moon…" Charlie had forgotten all about it. "It's tomorrow?"

"You're going to want to start paying closer attention to the moon's schedule, man." Callie lectured, settling into the couch.

"And what is so different about a full moon night, exactly?" Charlie squinted, running one hand through his hair.

"Oh, it's wild." Callie tucked her legs underneath herself excitedly. "I only saw Lucy go through one. Basically, you have to lock yourself away in a room without any windows. Or block out the windows so the light can't get in. Either way, you can't let yourself look at the moon."

"Because it'll make me moon-drunk." Charlie sighed tiredly.

"There's no telling _what_ it'll make you do, though." Callie continued jabbering. "My mom told me it's always a little different. But it's always really loopy."

"What, as if I were high?" Charlie shrugged. "Like, I'll just get giggly?"

"It's always _different_." Callie shook her head. "But it won't end up mattering because we're going to make sure you spend the night somewhere you _won't_ be seeing the moon. In fact…" She said thoughtfully. "Let's work on it. It can be our project for the day? I've always found that mindlessly blocking out windows all afternoon is just the trick to distract me from my problems."

"Is that so?" Charlie raised a weary, though skeptical eyebrow.

"Hey, Mrs. B?" Callie took a few steps down the hall, calling.

"What is it, Callie?" It was Zane who opened the door, clearly irritated at the interruption.

"Oh, uh, hey. Charlie and I were thinking we'd go get supplies to clock out the windows in his room." Callie said hopefully.

Zane didn't respond, clearly waiting for her to make her point.

"You know…" Callie raised a shoulder awkwardly, trying to read Zane's blank expression. "For the moon?"

"That's unnecessary." Zane checked his watch, waving a hand dismissively. "He'll just use the room at your house."

"My house?" This was clearly news to Callie.

Zane sighed, clearly ready to end the conversation and get back into the room. " _Yes_ , the storage room in your basement. We renovated it years ago to be a moon-proof safe room.

Callie frowned. "But my mom never goes down there during the full-"

"They've been immune for years." Zane said, growing visibly irritable. "We built if for your sister." He stepped back into the office, turning to face them. "You two just stay put." The door slammed shut behind him.

"Okaayyy…" Callie's eyes were wide as she dropped onto the couch next to Charlie, who hadn't moved. "Never mind, then. Apparently we have a moon proof room. Who knew?"

Charlie only shrugged, shaking his head.

The pair sat up as Lewis walked out of the office. "I've just gotten word." He said wearily, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Denman is going public tomorrow. I mean, she's presenting her data on mermaids tomorrow at 5:00 in a meeting at the conservatory."

"And then?" Callie tucked her ankles underneath herself, wrapping one arm tightly around her knees.

"Then we'll see." Lewis raised his shoulders. "Hopefully nothing at all."

"So…" Charlie perked up, glancing outside at the blue, sunny sky. "Since we know she's not going public until tomorrow… and it's morning now… Can I go swimming?"

Callie jabbed him fiercely with her elbow.

"I mean, a walk?" Charlie amended, gaining a nod of approval from Callie. "I would be totally careful-"

Lewis held both hands in the air. "Surry, dude. You're going to have to take that up with your parents." He leaned toward Charlie slightly. "But between you and me? You're probably fine. But _no_ swimming.."

"Thanks." Charlie waved as Lewis slipped out the front door.

"Think they'll let you go out?" Callie raised her eyebrows.

"Nope." Charlie sighed, sinking down into the couch.

Neither bothered to look up as the door to the back room opened and closed. Rikki and Zane marched down the hall before Zane split off into the kitchen. Rikki walked into the living room, taking a seat in the chair across from Callie and Charlie. "Well this all sucks." She muttered.

"Tomorrow at five, huh?" Charlie rested his chin in a hand, letting his head roll to the side to look at Rikki.

"Tomorrow at five." Rikki closed her eyes.

Charlie slid his eyes over to Callie, who widened her eyes back at him, nodding encouragement. "So…" Charlie sat up. "Since she's not going public until tomorrow, could I go out for a bit? For a quick swim?" He couldn't help but ask, he was dying to get back in the water. "I'll be careful, I promise-"

"And I'll keep an eye out." Callie offered.

Rikki let out a long sigh, massaging her temple. "I don't think it's such a good idea…"

"Absolutely not." Zane's voice carried from the kitchen.

Rikki gritted her teeth in frustration. "Go out." She snapped. "But no swimming, ok Char?"

"Sure." Charlie deflated slightly, but he couldn't deny that he was just glad to be getting out of the house and away from the tension for a while. Callie followed him to the front door. They could hear Rikki and Zane arguing as the door swung shut behind them.

"I can _not_ believe they're letting you out of that house." Callie swatted Charlie's arm as she jogged to catch up with him.

"Me either, but I'm not arguing." Charlie swung into the driver's seat before unlocking the door for Callie.

The pair had been driving for several minutes before Callie frowned. "And where are we going, exactly?"

"There's a great piece of beachfront a few miles away." Charlie said excitedly. "No one is ever there, no boats, no one will ever see-"

"You're joking, right?" Callie reared away from him. "You are _not_ getting in that water, son."

"C'mon…" Charlie whined. "You sound just like my mom-"

"You're not taking this seriously yet, Charlie." Callie crossed her arms over her chest, glaring straight forward. "Denman is going public tomorrow. And she has sights on your family. You don't know what she sees and what she doesn't, or where she has cameras. Plus…" She sat a little taller in her chair. "I'm in charge of watching over you. So don't you dare put me in a position where there's even a remote chance something could go wrong, got it?"

Charlie raised his eyebrows, surprised but impressed by Callie's firm words. "Fair enough." He nodded, casting a glance at Callie out of the corner of his eyes. "We'll… just go for a walk on the beach?"

"The way-far-up beach, as far from the water as we can." Callie nodded.

"Good deal." Charlie couldn't help but grin as the pair flew down the road.

BREAK

The next morning, Charlie was surprised to walk into a completely quiet kitchen. After a few moments of searching, he found Rikki in the side room.

"Where is everyone?" He leaned against the door jamb. "It's the big day, I figured the whole gang would be over here all day for the big reveal."

"We're not doing anything out of the ordinary." Rikki shrugged as she made her way to the kitchen to start fixing something for breakfast. "Everyone will be checking in, and we'll meet up later, but other than that we're just treating this like an ordinary day."

"Where's Dad?" Charlie couldn't see his car in the driveway.

"He's at your grandfather's. They're trying to come up with a legal contingency plan in case Denman does reveal our identities tonight."

"So…" Charlie had forgotten about his grandfather Harrison's involvement in the whole ordeal. "I guess, grandpa, he… knows about all this?"

"He's known for years." Rikki paused briefly before deciding to continue. "He found out when your father did, during the first Denman debacle. Before we convinced all three that we'd become normal again."

"Not just Denman?" Charlie raised an eyebrow, surprised. "I thought that was when Dad found out."

"No, he found the whole deal out a few months later." Rikki shook her head, moving to the fridge.

"Did you tell him?" Charlie couldn't help his curiosity.

"No." Rikki paused, glancing at her son briefly before moving to the stove. "He found out. Caught me in a tight spot."

"Gotcha." Charlie pondered on the new information. For a moment, he felt like he could relate to his father. Out of the loop on a secret everyone else seemed to know about.

"Anyway," Rikki continued. "We told your grandfather Harrison a few months after we'd gotten married."

"So everyone really _did_ know the family secret except me, huh?" Charlie let his chin drop to his chest, looking at the tile floor.

Rikki sighed. "We only told him because we knew he'd been the one to draft the original contract protecting us from Denman. He deserved to know the truth."

"I get that." Charlie shoved his hands in his pockets, thinking.

The doorbell rang a moment later.

"That'll be the repairman." Rikki rinsed her hands before moving towards the front door. "The sprinkler system has been malfunctioning lately." She spoke briefly with the man at the door before returning to the kitchen. "It went off in the front yard today while I was walking to the car. I only barely made it without getting wet, and the thing isn't set to go off at all during the day."

"Not a good time for malfunctioning sprinklers." Charlie shook his head.

"If he can't fix it I'm going to have him disable the system entirely." Rikki poured herself a cup of coffee. "Better to have brown grass, you know?"

"Damn it!" Zane blew through the front door, drying his hands and shaking droplets of water out of his hair. "That sprinkler caught me right as I stepped out of the car. "I thought you called the-"

"He's here. He's working on it, Zane. Calm down." Rikki didn't look up from the stove. "He's probably out back looking at the pipes."

Zane irritably grabbed a kitchen towel off the counter and patted it down his arms, noticing Charlie. "Morning, Char. You're sticking around today, yes?"

"Actually, I thought I'd go over to Callie's for a bit?" Charlie said hopefully, glancing to Rikki. "They're keeping inside today too, and I can drive over and back."

"That's fine." Rikki turned. "But use the back door if you go out, I don't trust that sprinkler system."

"And absolutely no swimming. Not even in the pool." Zane said firmly. "And be home at least two hours before the announcement. Lewis is attending, he'll be keeping us updated so we know how to handle it."

"You got it." Charlie grabbed his keys before jogging to the back door. He stepped aside to allow the tired looking repairman into the house, pointing him towards the kitchen before closing it tightly behind him and heading towards his car.

BREAK

"Just can't stay away, huh?" Callie rolled her eyes as she swung open her front door.

"I can't be in that house anymore." Charlie dropped onto the couch, propping his feet up on the table. "Mom and Dad can't hold a single conversation without arguing about something or other."

"They're just nervous, give them time." Callie said before dropping next to him on the couch.

"Still sucks." Charlie groaned, rubbing one of his eyes.

"No good." Callie leaned on him, dropping her head playfully on his shoulder.

"No swimming." Charlie followed her lead, letting his head rest on top of hers.

"No swimming." Callie echoed, raising an eyebrow. "But that doesn't mean we can't make some use of the time, and you _do_ need to practice… get up."

"Why?" Charlie raised a shoulder as he stood. "We aren't even allowed in the pool…"

"Move to the center of the room." Callie directed, hurrying to the kitchen.

Charlie did as she asked, turning to see where she'd gone. "Now what?"

"Now dry off as fast as you can." Callie reappeared with a glass of water in her hand. She tossed it at him, most of the contents nailing him right in the face.

"Callie!" Charlie sputtered, pitching forward onto the carpet as his legs transformed. "What the hell?"

"We're practicing getting you back to human as quickly as possible. With this psycho doctor chick running around we can't have you getting caught in public just because you weren't able to get your legs back quickly enough. And let's face it, you are _so_ going to mess up in public at least once or twice while you're still getting the hang of things." She crossed her arms. "It really is something worth practicing. Now practice. Dry off."

"Oh, shut up." Charlie pushed himself up on his hands. "Get me a towel or something."

"Nope." Callie sat back on the couch, nonchalantly looking at her phone. "Figure it out. You're not always going to have a towel handy."

Charlie sighed audibly, dropping his head to rest on his forearms for a moment before rolling to his back so that he could push himself into a sitting position with one arm. He wiped at the water on his chest with his other hand, to little success.

"Try using your powers." Callie urged him, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees.

Charlie glanced up at her before focusing his attention on his right hand as he held it out over his chest, where the water reflected off his skin. He swallowed hard before focusing all the energy he could muster on the water.

It was a strange feeling. Suddenly, Charlie could _feel_ the water respond to him. He clenched his jaw, raising his hand up, away from his skin. As his hand moved farther away, the water droplets followed it. A moment later, the water was floating in mid air in front of him, inches over his extended hand.

"That's more like it!" Callie jumped to her feet, clapping her hands. "But… Charlie…"

"What?" Charlie was too mesmerized by the hovering orb of water in front of him to spare much attention for her.

"Uh… you're _dry_ , dude." Callie raised her eyebrows. "Don't you think you might want to-"

Charlie transformed a moment later, his legs reappearing along with his clothes. The change caught him off-guard, making him lose his focus on the water, which crashed down on top of him a millisecond later.

"Mother _fucker_." Charlie groaned as his fin reappeared.

Callie dropped to sit cross-legged on the floor near him, careful to pick a dry spot to sit in. "Hey, we _are_ here to practice." She waved in his general direction. "So get to it."

BREAK

Two hours later, Charlie was nursing several bruises, courtesy of Callie, who had been springing dry-off tests on him all day. And, although he'd never admit it to her, Charlie felt really good about the training. He was now fairly confident that he could dry himself pretty darn quickly, and it felt good to know he had that control.

"She could have waited for me to be sitting down at least once, though." He muttered to himself, massaging an elbow as he pulled into his driveway. He was just there to watch the announcement and pick up his overnight bag, then it was back to Callie's to camp out for the full moon.

He stepped out of the car just as the sprinklers hissed to life over the front walk, catching Charlie right across the face with a cool spray of water.

"Shit." Charlie froze, momentarily panicked. He'd forgotten that the sprinkler system was broken.

Instinct kicked into gear. This was exactly the situation they'd been preparing him for all afternoon.

Putting his head down, Charlie sprinted to his front door as drops of water pelted him from left and right. He just needed to get inside, that was all. He wrenched open the knob, jumped inside, and slammed his back against the door to close it, panting as he leaned back against the cool wood.

Seconds later, the increasingly familiar feeling began to sweep over him. He quickly dropped to his knees, saving himself from suffering from yet another fall just before the change overtook him.

Focusing on speed, Charlie pushed himself around so that he could prop his back around the door behind him. He held his hand out strongly, immediately drawing the water off his body. He maintained his focus, knowing that his legs would be returning any second. He was ready as the change back to his human form swept over him moments later, keeping the orb of water steady in front of him. He walked carefully to the kitchen, depositing the water in the sink with a lazy flick of his wrist.

"Charlie? Is that you?" Rikki hurried into the kitchen a moment later, worry on her face.

"Yes, just me." Charlie shrugged. "Home before the announcement, remember?"

"Right." Rikki nodded, distracted. "Zane is on the phone with Lewis now, he just called a second ago."

"Just wrapped up." Zane spoke tiredly as he appeared in the doorway.

"What's going on?" Rikki crossed her arms over her chest, her brow furrowing.

"Denman's press conference has been moved to nine in the morning tomorrow." Zane said, distracted as he typed something into his phone. "And the location has been changed. He's trying to get to the new address now. He was on the phone with me when the announcement was made, it _literally_ just happened."

"I wonder what could have happened?" Rikki fretted , pacing the floor.

"He said he'd let us know if he heard anything." Zane turned to Charlie. "Which means you will have to miss the announcement. You'll still be shut away at Lewis's.

"Shut away?" Charlie's eyebrows flew into his hairline. "Geez, Dad, sound _more_ cryptic…"

"It's your _first_ full moon on the same damn night Denman is going public." Zane shot back sharply. "You _will_ spend the entirety of the moon's exposure _completely_ shut away or, so help me-"

"Dad, Dad, calm down." Charlie held up his hands in surrender. "I was just joking. I'm taking it seriously. I won't leave that room."

"Good." Zane's eyes flashed in Charlie's direction. "You should probably go ahead and get set up over there, since the announcement isn't happening now."

"But I literally just got home-" Charlie protested. "I've got hours before-"

"It won't kill you to get there early." Rikki ruffled his hair. "You won't get to see the announcement anyway, no reason to wait."

Wordlessly, Charlie swung his backpack over his shoulders. He paused at the door, grabbing his keys off the side table. "So… just keep me updated, I guess."

Neither Rikki nor Zane seemed to notice as he shut the door behind him, checking to make sure the sprinkler had stopped running before hurrying out to his car. Charlie shook his head as he started his car, butterflies kicking up in his stomach as he thought about Denman's announcement and the impending full moon. It was hard to believe any of this was actually happening.

BREAK

Cleo opened the front door. "Charlie, come in." Her mouth smiled, but her eyes were worried. She stepped aside as Charlie entered the familiar house.

"So, I, uh, hear you have a moon-proof room." Charlie broke the awkward silence as he walked across their threshold.

"You bet." Cleo leaned her head toward the stairs. "Callie!" She called. "Charlie's back!" She turned back to face Charlie, wiping her hands on her jeans. "Downstairs. Side room, off the basement. Make yourself at home."

Charlie walked down the steps, quickly locating the door to the only other room in the basement. He'd seen it before, but hadn't paid any attention to it, figuring it was a boiler room or something.

"Hey!" Callie bounced down behind him.

"Hey. This is it right," Charlie paused, a hand on the knob.

"Right." Callie's hands flew to her hips. "It's not a bad setup." She followed Charlie inside.

"Not bad at all." Charlie shrugged, setting his bag down as he took stock of the room they'd be spending the full moon in. They had a big couch, a tv, a fridge, and a tiny restroom off the back.

"We don't get cable down here, you won't get a shred of phone reception, and the wifi signal is nonexistent because of all the concrete, but you could do a lot worse. And not a single window."

"And…" Charlie said with a flourish, reaching into the side pocket of his bag. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey, swinging it back and forth. "We've got entertainment."

Callie placed a hand on her chest, closing her arms as she smiled. "My hero."

BREAK

"He just got here, Rikki, don't worry." Cleo spoke into the phone calmly. "I'll make sure they stay down there until I leave, and after that Callie will be with him the whole time. We'll keep him safe."

"Thanks, Cleo. Keep us updated if you hear anything from Lewis." Rikki's voice crackled through the phone.

"Of course." Cleo promised before disconnecting the call.

"He's there?" Zane asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"He's there." Rikki dropped her phone onto the counter, rubbing her temple with one hand. She sighed. "Now what?"

Zane walked over to her slowly, wrapping one arm tightly around her shoulders. "Now we wait." His grip tightened. Rikki allowed her head to drop onto his shoulder for just a moment before moving back to the stove.

BREAK

These are seriously the only movies you brought down here?" Charlie laughed. "Are you kidding me? Can we still get out?"

"Mean Girls is a classic." Callie shoved a handful of potato chips into her mouth.

"And Bring it On?" Charlie tossed it to her. "Gee, thanks, my favorites." He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you put me in charge of movie selection." Callie held up both hands. "Maybe pick them out yourself from now on, Flipper."

"Yeah, done." Charlie held his phone up to the ceiling. "You weren't joking about there not being any signal down here."

"I know, it sucks." Callie shook her head.

"I wanted to call my mom after Denman's announcement tomorrow morning." Charlie reached higher, trying to get even a hint of cell signal. "Check in, you know? See how it went? The moon goes down hours after she makes it."

"Good luck with that." Callie shrugged as she pulled two shot glasses out of a drawer. "Ok, shots every time Kirsten Dunst says something whiney."

BREAK

One and a half bottles of whiskey, two chick flicks, and a few hours later, and the pair were sleepily draped across the couch. Callie was dosing here and there, and Charlie's head was in her lap, though he couldn't seem to make himself relax.

"What time is it?" Callie asked for the third time in as many minutes.

"I do not _know_ , Cal, I'll _check_." Charlie forced himself to his feet, only staggering a little on his way to check the screen on his phone. "It's ten o'clock." He waved his phone in Callie's general direction before falling back on the couch next to her. "I wonder how the announcement will go over?" He rubbed at his temple, feeling inexplicably nervous.

"I don't think it's going to end up being that big of a deal." Callie yawned, stretching her arms up over her head.

"You're yawning? At _ten_?" Charlie crossed his arms, shooting a disapproving look at Callie out of the corner of his eye. He tapped his hand on the arm of the couch, drumming out a semblance of a rhythm before jumping to his feet and facing to the far side of the room. He examined the wall closely, reaching out a hand to touch it.

The moon was just on the other side of these bricks. He knew because he could _feel_ it. It called to him, beckoning for him to get in the water. His skin almost tingled with desire and his heartbeat sped up at the thought of diving out into the sea.

"Earth to Charlie?"

Charlie started, realizing Callie was standing right behind him and that she'd been speaking.

"Sorry." He shook his head, trying to shake the thoughts of the sea from his head. "What did you say?"

"I _said_ that sometimes normal people yawn after… what are we on? _Seven_ shots?" She dissolved into giggles as she swung the nearly-empty bottle back and forth. "We're going to feel like _shit_ tomorrow."

"Make it eight." Charlie grabbed the bottle from her, pouring one out for each of them.

"Eight? Are you trying to kill me or what?" Call dramatically tossed an arm over her head, almost knocking herself off balance.

"I've got to calm myself down, Cal." Charlie tossed back the first of the two shots. "I can… I can _feel_ it out there."

Charlie frowned. "Feel what, the moon?"

"Duh, the moon." Charlie breathed heavily, but he couldn't get his breathing to even out. His hands shook lightly as he pictured the moon-lit sky just on the other side of the wall. He looked to Callie, willing her to understand what he was describing. "It's like it's pulling me. It's been happening all night, but it's gotten really strong all of a sudden. It's strong." He swallowed, sweat breaking out on his forehead as he felt a wave of desire wash over him. He wanted out, _needed_ to get out. "I've never felt anything like this before. It's really weird."

"It'll all be over soon enough." Callie patted his shoulder, a look of mock-sympathy on her face. "Then you won't have to face the big bad moon for another month."

An idea struck Charlie. He turned to face Callie, hope clear on his face as he spoke very quickly. "I mean, wouldn't it be better to train me how to handle the moon by letting me learn from experience? Yeah, we can pop outside, quick look, come back in, no problem. Immersion therapy." He knew she wasn't going to go for it, but he had to try. The strength of the pull was increasing; he could almost feel it tugging at his elbow, encouraging him to get out of the confines of this house.

"You can really feel the moon from in here?" Callie raised her eyebrows, checking to make sure that the key to the door was still safely tucked in her pocket as Charlie twisted the locked knob. "Wow, I knew the first few moon nights were real doozies, but I've never heard of anyone-"

"Please, Callie." Charlie knew he sounded desperate and he hated it, but he needed to get out more than he'd ever needed anything before. "Just for one minute…"

"No way, Jose." Callie squeezed Charlie's upper arm, placing her other hand on his back. "Not happening." She frowned as she felt a tangible shiver run down his spine. "Charlie…" She stepped back, looking at him with concerned eyes for several seconds before speaking. "You're really not alright, are you?"

"I just _can't_ calm down." Charlie swallowed hard, almost panting as he tried to calm his pounding heart. Another pull from the ocean washed over him, even more powerful now than the last time. "Callie, I-" He hung his head.

"Shhh." Called took a step closer to him, taking his hands in hers. She examined him carefully, worried. She'd never seen Charlie so out of sorts, so _pained_. He was always so confident, so goofy… watching him now felt like she was watching someone who had instantly aged ten years. She tightened her hold on his hands, leaning her forehead forward to rest against his. His skin felt fiery hot under hers. "It's just one night." She spoke gently. "You'll get through this."

"I can't even take a deep breath." Charlie closed his eyes, willing himself to regain control. Another tremor hit, this time shaking him to his core. He grimaced, trying to fight off the pull of the ocean, but failing.

Callie moved without thinking. Maybe she just wanted to do something to make Charlie feel a little bit better, maybe she wasn't thinking clear thoughts at all, but she reached for Charlie's face in both hands, looking deeply into his surprised eyes for a long moment before pressing her lips to his. She wrapped one hand around the back of his head, weaving her fingers in his hair as she pressed his face to hers.

Charlie felt momentarily paralyzed with shock at Callie's sudden outburst of affection, but after only a few quick seconds of hesitation, he returned the kiss. And he returned it _hard_.

Charlie felt a pang of almost painful release as he deepened their kiss. Suddenly, he could almost see clearly. And he could see Callie.

Charlie realized that this was just what he'd needed. All of his un-channelled energy had found a place it could flow freely. He felt as if a weight had been lifted; his stomach gave a flip, as if he were momentarily upside-down. Closing his eyes, Charlie gave into the desire that suddenly overwhelmed him, allowing his hands to reach out and grab Callie's hips tightly. In one swift yank, he pulled her hips to his, grinding into her.

Callie gasped at the unexpected motion, letting out a shaky exhale. An involuntary moan escaped her lips as Charlie pulled her in even closer, his breath hot on her face.

A million thoughts flew through Callie's mind at once as her eyes locked with Charlie's for just a moment. Seeing him that close to her, looking him in the eyes… it made all of this so _real_. What was she doing? This was _Charlie_. The same Charlie she'd known her whole life. Was this a good idea? Could their friendship handle this? Though she tried to focus, she could feel the questions evaporating from her mind as Charlie shifted his hips, pressing his growing erection against her desperately.

Callie couldn't make herself think any longer, she was too overwhelmed by the sensations that were flowing over her body. She didn't know what she'd expected him to do when she'd kissed him, but it had never been… _this_. Her head swam, making her feel slightly dizzy, but not in an uncomfortable way.

Was moon fever contagious?

The pair panted hard as their hands began feverishly exploring each other's bodies. Charlie's breath caught in his throat as Callie's hand brushed over his belt buckle. He was still trembling slightly as he clumsily grasped for her hand, pulling it down until she palmed his erection. He couldn't contain a low groan of pleasure from escaping his throat as her hand rubbed his growing cock through his pants.

Charlie hooked his thumbs into the waistband of her cotton shorts, giving them an experimental tug. Callie didn't stop him, only tightening her hold on him as she moved against him. It felt amazing. She couldn't remember the last time she'd wanted another person this _badly_. Still…

Callie couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. This all came out of nowhere, and on a full moon…

As much as she desperately didn't want to, Callie forced herself to remove her hand from the bulge in the front of Charlie's pants. "We have to stop, Charlie. You're not in your right mind."

"Or maybe I'm seeing things clearly for the first time." Charlie spoke lowly, his voice dripping with lust as he lowered his head to kiss her neck just below her left ear. Callie shivered involuntarily, letting her head drop to one side.

"And if that's the case…" Callie struggled to think clearly, though his kisses made it almost impossible to breathe, much less think. Her speech was stammered, but she managed to finish her sentence. "Then we can pick this back up tomorrow. But we really need to take a pause tonight."

"But I _want_ you." Charlie cupped her cheek in one hand, stroking her skin with his thumb. "Touch me."

Something inside Callie burst at that moment. She couldn't wait any longer. Her hands flew to Charlie's belt, fumbling with the clasp in her haste to remove it.

The pair moved as if they were on fire, hands feeling, squeezing, stroking each other. Charlie couldn't get enough as he plunged his tongue into Callie's waiting mouth. It was as if every moment of sexual tension he'd ever felt in his entire life was exploding through him at once as he yanked at Callie's shorts, sliding them down her long legs. He dropped to his knees in front of her, reaching for her face so that he could pull her down with him without breaking their kiss.

He ripped his own shirt over his head before reaching for hers. He slowed briefly as he took his time pulling the shirt over Callie's head. Her hair cascaded over her naked shoulders as he threw the shirt aside and reached for her.

The were furiously grasping at each other when Charlie's right hand, (or more specifically, his _fingers_ ,) traced her belly button before plunging into her panties. He tested her slickness, driving her momentarily wild as he slipped one finger inside her, then another. His movements were slow, calculated, and in perfect rhythm with his still-rolling hips.

"Oh my god…" Callie whispered, feeling like she might actually catch on fire at any moment. It was all so surreal, the things Charlie was saying. The things Charlie was _doing_. She'd never seen this side of him before. This Charlie was so dominant, so insistent. A thrill of pleasure shot through her as he moved his thumb against her center. She responded by slipping a hand into the front of his boxers and rubbing her thumb over the velvety head of Charlie's penis, eliciting a grunted curse from Charlie.

Charlie opened his eyes, watching Callie with wonder in his eyes. He'd had no idea Callie could be so spontaneous, so… sexy. Sure, he'd always thought she was pretty, but never anything more serious than a passing thought. All of a sudden, he couldn't imagine why they hadn't gotten together sooner. She moved against him in such a maddening way, he felt suddenly like an amateur. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this turned on.

"Callie, I _need_ you." Charlie gasped the words.

Callie couldn't speak, but she responded by roughly pushing his jeans down his legs. His erection stood proudly against the front of his boxers, straining to rip right through. She didn't waste another moment, grasping him with her right hand and giving him a slow, pressured pump.

Charlie didn't know if he was reacting to the bottle of liquor he'd ingested or if the moon really was working some kind of magic on him, but he didn't care. Thoughts of Callie consumed him.

Callie shyly tightened her grip on him, increasing her speed as she breathed heavily.

Charlie's hips hitched involuntarily, encouraging her. "Holy shit, Cal." Me muttered, pushing himself into her hand with a moan as his hips' rhythm grew quicker.

Cal. Right. She was Cal, and this was Charlie. Hearing him call her by her nickname almost snapped her back into reality. She felt strange, almost as if she couldn't help but be drawn to Charlie. Charlie…

She pulled back slightly to look at him closely. This _was_ Charlie, but she'd never seen this look on his face before.

Charlie paused for just a moment, puzzled at the expression on Callie's face, suddenly so serious. The flash of clarity only lasted a few seconds before lust for her reclaimed his body.

"I need to be inside you." He managed to grunt, his eyes downcast as his breathed hard.

Callie blinked, stunned at his bluntness. Charlie wrapped one arm around her waist, rolling over hard so that Callie landed roughly on her back. He dove down to kiss her neck, nibbling on her collarbone as his fingers slid in and out of her. "Let's fuck." He almost groaned the words, his voice nearly inaudible. "You and me. Now."

"Charlie…" Callie couldn't seem to form any word other than his name. She squeezed her eyes closed, swallowing hard as she tried to think. "I don't think…"

"C'mon. We'll go outside." Charlie said huskily, his voice thick as his eyes locked deeply into hers. "Callie…" His eyes fluttered closed as he dragged his teeth along her neck and bit down lightly on her shoulder. He buried his face in her warm skin, holding her to him tightly so he could murmur in her ear. "I want to do you in the ocean." He hooked one arm under Callie's right knee, pulling it aside so that he could settle between her legs. He leaned down to whisper in her ear, his face inches from hers. "I'll slide into you as the waves carry us." He gave another thrust with his hand, making Callie's breath hitch as he took in a breath.

"I want to do you while I'm transformed. I want to feel what it's like as a merman. Callie, please…" Charlie anchored each of his hands on the floor above Callie's shoulders so he could push himself up to look at her. His eyes had a familiar, hopeful look glinting behind them.

Suddenly, Callie knew what this was. All of it. "This is the moon…"

"The moon…" Charlie moaned the word as he dropped to his elbows, plunging his hips down to Callie's. With renewed vigor, he ground himself into her, his rock hard length sliding outside her center, almost entering her.

"Charlie, this has to stop." Callie tried to push his shoulders up and off of her, but he didn't seem to notice. Her thoughts raced, mixed with confusion as she tried to puzzle through what was happening, in spite of Charlie's best efforts to distract her.

Ok. Charlie was worked up because of the moon, and she knew it. She didn't know why, exactly, or how the moon could be affecting him from the inside, but this wasn't Charlie. This was _not_ the Charlie she'd grown up with. This man was… rough. Insistent.

His eyes met hers. They were dark with lust for a long moment before his mouth dropped to her right breast. Callie bit her lip, trying again to push him away from her, but unable to make her muscles obey her.

As much as she hated it, Callie couldn't deny that loved the way Charlie's eyes burned against hers. She'd never felt this desired by anyone before. She couldn't pretend that she hadn't imagined what it would be like to kiss Charlie, to have him slide into her gently after hours of buildup. Was it really _such_ a bad thing to keep going? He _clearly_ wanted it as much as she did. They were both adults, who cared if they hooked up on the full moon or not?

Callie wavered as Charlie adjusted his hips, positioning himself at her entrance.

"No."

Callie tried to sound sure of herself, but knew she hadn't succeeded. Suddenly, a thought hit her like a train.

What if _she'd_ been the one to transform a week ago? What if tonight had been _her_ first full moon as a mermaid? She would have been beyond furious if Charlie had violated their friendship by taking advantage of her when she was enchanted. She couldn't do that to him either. She wouldn't.

Summoning every ounce of self control she could muster, she reached down, her hand catching Charlie's length just as he was about to plunge into her. She panted, momentarily frozen as the tip of his erection just barely pressed inside her, becoming slick with her juices.

Their panting echoed off the walls as their eyes met.

"This is wrong." Callie breathed heavily, her forehead pressed against Charlie's. "We have to stop. Now."

Sweat dripped from Charlie's temple as he also attempted to catch his breath. "Why is this wrong?" He frowned, genuinely confused.

"It shouldn't be like this." Callie shook her head. "Not because of the moon." Callie spoke quickly, before she could change her mind.

"Shouldn't be like…" Charlie frowned. "C'mon, Callie, I'm… not under the spell of the moon…"

"Plus, you have a girlfriend, Charlie." Callie spoke gently, but with a slight bite to her words. She shoved him up, off of her, this time succeeding. "Forgive me if I'm not interested in fucking a dude who's cheating. Even on dumb ol' Kelli."

Charlie felt a shock rock his core as he listened to her words. He wanted to open his mouth and defend himself, but he felt slightly sick.

Callie was right. With all of the excitement from the last couple days, he'd forgotten all about Kelli. In his mind he'd already left her and moved on with his life, although things that only happened in his mind were of little use to him now.

Callie walked quickly to the other side of the room, scooping up articles of clothing.

Suddenly, Charlie's whole body tingled violently as the pull of the moon hit him with its strongest punch yet.

"Callie…" He stammered. "The moon… it's so strong…" He swallowed hard. "It's pulling me again." He reached an unsteady hand for her shoulder, but she twisted immediately away from his grasp.

"I… think you need some alone time." Callie's face flushed as she darted for the door. "I'll just be on the other side, k? Let me know if you need anything." She pulled the door shut behind her, turning the key in the lock with a solid 'click.'

"Wha-? Callie?" Charlie ran to the door, almost tripping as he pulled up his pants. "Callie!" He shouted, pounding on the door with his fist. "Don't leave me alone in here, c'mon!" He hit the door a few more times before giving up with an exasperated sigh. "You suck, Cal!" He shoved himself away from the door, moving to the far brick wall, where the pull of the moon was the strongest. It was _almost_ pleasurable, the way he felt drawn to the light. He sat cross-legged, leaning back against the cool brick as he closed his eyes. He allowed the tingly humming of the moon to lull him into a dream-filled sleep, flashes of the ocean seeming to cradle him as he drifted away.

BREAK

Every minute felt like ten as the hands on the clock crawled towards nine o'clock the next morning, and to say that tensions were high in the house would be more than an understatement. Rikki, Cleo, Bella, Zane, Will, and Lewis were all positioned around Cleo's living room. Lewis hadn't been able to gain access to Denman's announcement, or even find out where it would be held, but everyone at his lab was very excited about it.

Rikkiz and Zane sat perched on the edge of the couch, eyes glued, unseeing, to the television. Neither were actually watching the sitcom blaring in front of them, but at least they weren't expected to say anything.

Zane sat up sharply. Looking around for the others, who'd been talking quietly on the other side of the room. "Credits!" He waved to get their attention. It's nine, guys."

All five of them moved to the kitchen, each taking a seat at the table, patiently waiting for the phone to ring. They sat in silence, each casting a nervous glance at the cell phone in front of them. Zane's hand reached for Rikki's, squeezing her fingers tightly in his.

Will looked over at Bella, whose face had been frozen in an expression of disbelief since she'd arrived three hours ago. Hesitantly, unsure if this was the right thing to do, he wrapped one arm around her shoulder, letting his hand squeeze her forearm reassuringly. After a moment of indecision, Bella relaxed into him, closing her eyes as time crawled by.

"You guys…" Cleo stood, her eyes huge as she stared at the television. She whipped around to face Zane. "Did _you_ know this was being televised?"

"What?" Zane stood as well, turning to face the same direction as Cleo.

"Oh my god." Bella joined him, followed by Rikki and Will.

The morning news was on. On the screen, in big red letters, flashed the headline: ' _Mermaids are Real!_

"She got the story on the news." Zane clenched his jaw. "I don't believe it."

"So much for nobody noticing." Will shook his head. "The story sure as hell won't fade away now."

"Sh!" Rikki clambered for the remote, turning the volume up.

"Going to Dr. Linda Denman now, who has dedicated most of her life to researching the subject." The toothy male anchor read into the camera.

The picture switched to a stainless steel laboratory, and to Denman's smug face. She grinned broadly for the camera, clearly relishing the attention.

"Hello everyone. My name is Dr. Linda Denman." She spoke clearly. "And I have been researching the subject of mermaids for over twenty-five years." She paused to flash a disingenuous smile at the scientists and reporters watching her in rapt attention. "Today… I'll be supplying not only the extensive data I've collected over the years, but also… proof."

The group in the living room exchanged uneasy glances without one another before turning back anxiously to the tv.

Denman surveyed the room of reporters and scientists before turning to a projection screen to her right. "First I'll show my proof, then I'll provide my detailed research and findings on the subject. Questions may be asked throughout." She took in a long, deep breath, clearly savoring the moment before gesturing for the projectionist to begin the video.

There were a few moments of popcorn as the tv adjusted to the projector's frequency, but soon the picture was painfully crystal clear.

IT was Zane and Rikki's front door. The _inside_ of their front door, in fact, the video clearly having been recorded from a low angle near the floor in their foyer. They all watched wordlessly, breathlessly anticipating what might happen next.

Seconds of silence passed before a figure burst through the on-screen door, slamming it closed behind him. He could be seen breathing heavily for a few seconds, though clearly trying to hurry.

"Charlie…" Rikki gasped, clasping a hand over her mouth.

In amazing detail, focusing in on the water dripping from his face, Charlie grimaced before he dropped to his knees.

"No." Zane breathed, his face suddenly pale.

They could only watch as, on camera, Charlie's legs extended, connecting to form an impressive fin covered in golden scales. He propped himself on his elbows, letting his head drop back as the changes completed.

The room watched in total silence as Charlie paused to catch his breath, then held his hand out over himself to lift the water off of him into a floating orb in the air in front of him.

"How did she?..." Cleo ran to the front hall. "Oh my god, Rikki…" She called. "There's a camera." She wrenched it from its hiding spot on the shelf and ran it in to her friends.

"She bugged our home." Rikki fumed. "That conniving _bitch_." She heaved angrily, whipping back around to face the television, which was now covering Denman's press conference, where she was being flooded with questions about the video she'd just shown.

"Doctor, how can you prove that what we saw was even real, and not a digital composite?" One wary looking reporter spoke up.

"Easily." Denman shrugged. "I have hundreds of pages of documents explaining the phenomenon, I have cell samples, recordings, pictures, data, and…" She paused, making sure she commanded the room's attention. "I will have this boy's," She gestured to the projector. "Full participation and cooperation."

"Like hell, she will." Zane fumed, pacing the floor angrily before facing the rest of the room. "She won't force Charlie into a damn thing." He took in a hot breath, balling his fists at his sides.

The kitchen phone rang shrilly at the same time that Rikki and Zane's cell phones began buzzing from their pockets. Zane gestured for Will to answer the kitchen phone as he pulled his own from his pocket. "Yes?" He answered.

"Mr. Bennett, is it true that your son, Charlie Bennett, is the merman in Linda Denman's video?"

Zane blinked in shock as the call waiting tone chirped in his ear. Without saying a word to the first caller he switched over the incoming call. "Hello?" He asked tiredly.

"Mr. Bennett, can we get a statement from you about the allegations that your son is a mermaid? Sorry, mer _man_?"

Zane slammed the phone down, leaning heavily on the counter on both hands. He could hear Will and Rikki walk over towards him. "Reporters?" He turned to face them.

"Reporters." Will nodded.

"Someone must have recognized Char." Rikki shook her head. "Unless Denman leaked it herself. I can't believe she had a camera in this house." She spoke quietly.

"What do we do?" Will checked the time. "The moon will still be up for hours, do we just leave Charlie down in the bunker?"

"Yes." Rikki nodded, deciding. "Leave him right where he is for now, that's where he's safest. Plus, it'll give us time to figure out a plan."

"Fine, he stays where he is." Cleo agreed.

"I'll be back later." Zane punched numbers violently into his phone, his voice scarily steely. "I'm going to have a chat with Linda Denman."

"Zane, do you think that's a good idea?" Zane stepped forward. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"No." Zane paused to face her as he pulled on his jacket. "This is a meeting I need to have alone. Just me and her." He breezed out the door a moment later, slamming it behind him.

"Holy shit." Rikki realized she was shaking as the sheer enormity of the morning settled into her chest. She allowed herself to drop onto the couch. "Poor Charlie…"

"Everything is going to be ok, Rik." Bella sat next to her friend, wrapping her arms around her shaking shoulders. "We're going to figure something out." Bella looked to Will, whose face looked grim as he watched the news station's enthusiastic response to Denman's announcement.

"Alright." Rikki took in a long, deep breath, composing her thoughts. "We have little time to come up with a plan of action. That's when the moon goes down, that's when we get Charlie, that's when we _do_ something."

The rest of the group nodded, each of them unable to keep from glancing nervously at the tv screen.

"At least Charlie's safe for the full moon." Cleo reassured Rikki.

"Thank god for that." Rikki managed a small smile, shaking her head as Denman's video of Charlie began replaying on the screen.


	10. Making Out Plans

Zane tore into Denman's office, blowing past her front desk. The place was packed with shouting reporters, each of them trying to get the attention of one of Denman's lab coat-wearing assistants, who were the designated interviewees. Zane walked confidently, pushing past people carrying cameras until he reached Denman's office door, which was surprisingly unlocked. He slammed the door behind him, making Denman jump as she spun around to see who'd barged in. She'd been alone, her desk piled high with research. She looked exactly the same as Zane remembered, steely blue eyes glaring at him from behind a curtain of white-blonde hair.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing, Linda?" Zane demanded, marching to stand inches from her. "You're going after our goddamn _kids_ now?"

"Charlie's an adult." Denman shrugged, quickly composing herself. "I gave all of you a chance to work with me. If I remember correctly, you turned me down. I had to get your attention somehow."

"It wouldn't have mattered if we _had_ worked with you, you would have gone public with that video either way." Zane clenched his teeth.

"You're probably not wrong." Denman said simply. "But it certainly would have been easier for all involved-"

"You put a _camera_ in my _home_." Zane's voice was terrifyingly quiet. "You've exposed my child's secret to the world. He's been a merman for less than a _week_ and he's lost any chance of a normal life he could have had." He stopped, shaking his head as his anger overwhelmed him.

Denman raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize he'd changed such a short while ago. That's… actually very interesting. How exactly did it happen? At Mako?"

Zane lifted his chin, clearly uninterested and unwilling to say another word to her on the subject.

"You see, I'd been wondering how you'd been able to hide him for so long…" Denman paced, puzzling things together to herself as if Zane were not in the room. "I'd collected so much mermaid data and then all of a sudden this _new_ strain of DNA started showing up… because Charlie had only just changed…." She furrowed her brow.

"You're NOT to say his name again, Denman. Or another word about him." Zane took a threatening step towards Denman.

"Zane…" Denman rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she placed her hands on her hips. " _When_ are you going to realize that you _want_ me to?"

"Excuse me?" Zane raised both eyebrows. "That will _never_ happen, Denman."

"I've been doing nothing but studying mermaids for twenty-five years, Zane." Denman spoke easily. "You wouldn't have let Charlie get sick without taking him to the doctor, why wouldn't you want as much information as possible about what Charlie's going through now?" She paced slightly closer to Zane, almost circling him. "When are you going to stop fighting me and work with me? Did it ever occur to you that my research might actually _help_ your boy?"

"Help him right into a cage for the rest of his life." Zane spat back.

"Oh, come on, you know that wouldn't happen-" Denman shook her head.

"It doesn't _matter_." Zane held his hands up, finished with the discussion. "You will not contact _anyone_ in my family again." He turned on his heel and started for the door.

"You're really going to regret that decision…" Denman's sing-songy tone echoed off the steel walls, freezing Zane in his tracks.

He pivoted, a look of pure nonchalance plastered across his face. "And exactly why is that?" He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because you've only found one of the cameras I had placed." Denman smirked, sitting into her hip. "Because right now, Charlie's been dragged out into the public eyes, but Rikki hasn't. Or Callie." Denman lifted a shoulder. "Mermaid or not, can you imagine how many questions people would have for her?" Her face became smug. "I know a lot, Zane. And I have tons of footage. Right now you're dealing with one merman forced public. It can quickly become a lot more interesting if you really want it to…"

"You're sick." Zane couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm a scientist, Bennett." Denman replied coolly. "And someday you're going to wake up and realize that I'm _not_ the bad guy here."

Zane snorted. "Not from where I'm standing."

"But from where everyone else stands…" Denman softened her tone. "People are grateful for my research, for what I've presented." She paced a bit, seeming to try to explain herself, as if she actually wanted Zane to hear her. "To you, the secret you and your friends have been keeping has gotten out. To literally _everyone_ else in the world, a huge scientific advancement was made. _History_ was made, Zane. People are going wild with the news." She took one step closer to Zane. "For years I have been mocked, made fun of, and gossiped about because of my researching a subject that I knew for a fact was reality. I'm finally vindicated." She couldn't keep the wide smile from spreading across her face. "And all I want to do is learn more. Let Charlie work with me. He can stay at home, or wherever he wants, really, I'd stay local. We'd run tests, do some studies, learn more about what really happens when he turns-" She spoke quickly now, almost lost in her thoughts. "And I've got to tell you, Zane, just from what I've already gathered, O believe there are some _significant_ differences between male and female mermaids-"

"I do not… fucking… care." Zane said stiffly, pointing a finger inches from her face. "Stay away from my family."

"You've heard my offer." The ice returned to Denman's voice as her face hardened. "Work with me. Or I keep releasing secrets. Take twenty-four hours to think it over. I'll be waiting for your decision."

Zane slammed the door behind him, shoving his way through the sea of reporters that mobbed him the second he stepped out of the office.

* * *

Charlie groaned sleepily, squeezing his eyes shut tightly as he rolled over. His head spun as he shifted, realizing that he'd somehow fallen asleep sitting up, leaning against a wall. He winced as the exposed brick scraped against his skin, squinting at the clock across the room to see the time.

"Damn, it's eleven already?" He rubbed his temples. "Callie, we really slept in…" He turned to look the other way. "Cal?"

A few seconds of silent searching informed him that he was very alone. He checked the time again. The moon should have set an hour ago, but he was still nervous about walking out of the bunker on his own. He surveyed the room, taking stock of what activities the night must have held, and realizing that he didn't remember much of anything.

"And that'd be why." He said to himself, picking up the now-empty bottle of whiskey. "Good move, Char." He muttered. At lease he'd been safely inside all night, away from the moon.

Charlie walked to the door, testing the knob, which was still locked. He leaned against the door frame.

"Callie? Anybody?" He called, resting his aching forehead against the cool wood. "I'm still locked down here!"

Only a few moments passed before more than one pair of footsteps pounded down the stairs. Charlie blinked in surprise as the door swung open to reveal Cleo and his mother. "Oh, hey." He said, shrugging. "I figured you'd be Callie."

"Where _is_ Callie?" Cleo frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Charlie raised one shoulder, yawning. "No idea. She was here last night, but when I woke up…" He gestured to the empty room.

Cleo turned to run back up the stairs, almost crashing into Callie, who had been taking them down two at a time.

"Sorry, guys." She panted, unable to meet Charlie's eyes. "I was upstairs."

"And exactly what were you doing up there that was more important than being here?" Cleo raised an eyebrow.

"It was, uh… really late." Callie nodded. "I'd forgotten about a paper that had to be submitted by 6am today. Charlie was… out like a light." Two spots of pink appeared on her cheeks as she stammered. "I fell asleep upstairs, I'm sorry. And I did lock the door; I didn't think it'd be a big deal." She finished lamely.

"So much for you keeping an eye on Charlie." Cleo couldn't believe what she was hearing as she looked at her daughter. "We'll have to find someone else to spend the full moon with him next month."

"I fully support that plan." Callie said under her breath.

"Charlie…" Rikki spoke directly, seriously. "Denman made the announcement." She exchanged a worried look with Cleo before continuing. "We need to talk to you upstairs."

"Alright." Charlie said easily, gesturing for the ladies to head up the stairs first. He elbowed Callie as he followed them. "Dude, way to bail on me last night, I'm probably going to have to spend the next one with Will now-"

"Can we talk for a moment?" Callie caught his arm, pulling him back.

"Sure…" Charlie frowned, taking in Callie's panicked expression. "Callie… what's wrong?" He reached out a hand to tuck a stray strand of hair that had fallen from her ponytail behind her ear.

Callie jerked backwards as if he'd stung her. "Sorry." She said quickly, holding up her hands. "I'm just a little on edge after… after last night."

"Last night-" Charlie frowned.

"Please." Callie held her hands higher. "I've been in my room practicing this speech and I've just got to say it all at once-" She spoke so quickly Charlie's aching head almost couldn't keep up with her, but he nodded anyway.

"Listen." She clasped her hands, almost seeming to plead with him. "I'm really sorry for bailing on the whole… _situation_ last night. I just got really freaked out after… what happened." She wrung her hands, unable to face Charlie.

"I mean, I started it. It was my fault. You were talking about the moon too, and it might have had something or other to do with it, but the bottom line is that nothing would have happened at all if I hadn't started it. I don't know what I was thinking, honestly, it's not like I _planned_ to kiss you, it just sort of happened…"

Charlie's heart fluttered in his chest. He and Callie had _kissed_ last night? And he couldn't remember it? It just wasn't fair… Callie continued speaking, but her words blurred in his mind as he desperately tried to remember even a second of that kiss. He eventually tuned in enough to realize that Callie was getting increasingly more upset as she jabbered on and on.

"Cal, Cal, stop." He laughed, reaching for Callie's hand. She flinched slightly, but allowed him to take her hand in both of his, held tightly in his warm palms.

"Please, Callie." He spoke closely, gently. "I'm sorry, but you've got to tell me about the kiss, I'm not going to be able to think about anything else until you do."

Callie froze. "You don't remember?" She could barely force her lips to form the words as a sort of resigned fear settled in behind her eyes.

"I think you're right about the moon. I remember feeling it call me last night during the movie, it was like I could feel it out there." He moved slightly closer, taking Callie's other hand in his. He wasn't sure why, but it felt so good to hold her; comforting. "I remember we were drinking… and watching bad movies." He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "And then… nothing. Morning."

Callie's face flushed blood-red as she stammered, trying to compose her thoughts. "Yeah, well, I, um, got really drunk and kissed you…" She paused, momentarily breathless as she remembered the way the two had ravaged each other just a few feet from where they stood right now. The way he'd groaned into her mouth as she pressed into him… Callie swallowed hard, feeling her heart pound in her chest. "And then you passed out. And I went upstairs. To send that paper, like I said." She popped her shoulders, clearly done with the subject.

"Damn." Charlie shook his head, blinking hard. "I don't remember any of that. Any of it."

"Yeah, well…" Callie yanked her hands from his, shoving them into the pockets of her shorts. "It wasn't anything worth getting excited about."

"Still, though." Charlie laughed dryly. "How totally hilarious is that? I mean…" He ran a hand sheepishly through his hair as his eyes fell to his shoes. "You and me… so weird."

"Yeah?" Callie raised her eyebrows, her mouth falling open. "I mean-" She cleared her throat. "Yeah. Damn whiskey." She started up the stars past Charlie, anxious to get the hell out of there.

"Cal, wait."

Callie sighed, clenching her jaw before turning back to Charlie. "Hm?"

"Well, it's just…" Charlie cocked his head to one side curiously. "You, uh, seemed pretty stressed a minute ago, and you had a speech planned and everything… are you sure everything's ok?" He narrowed his eyes a bit as they locked onto hers, trying to read them. "Did anything else happen?"

Callie's breath caught in her throat as she froze for just a moment, feeling herself beginning to be drawn into his gaze. She shook her head rapidly, holding up one hand as she forced her face into a pained smirk. "I _was_ stressed…. I was _worried_ …" She punched his arm, harder than she'd intended to as her mind scrambled to compose itself. "I was worried that you might think it, y'know." She shrugged one shoulder, grimacing. "Meant something. Because it didn't." She shook her head, knowing that she was in the middle of one great big episode of word-vomit. "Just making sure you don't, like, think I _like you_ like you. Like that. You know? Just, ew. I don't know what I was thinking." She rolled her eyes as she took the first stair, her hand grasping onto the handrail to stop it from shaking. She jogged up the rest, unable to look Charlie in the eye any longer.

"Oh." Charlie watched her go, surprised at how disappointed he'd been with her response. In fact, he almost wished he hadn't asked at all. Sure, the two of them had never been attracted to each other romantically before, but did the very idea of the two of them really gross her out that much? They'd grown so much closer recently…

"Why do I even care?" Charlie said to himself as he slowly climbed the steps. I wasn't like he _liked_ Callie or anything, was it? Charlie couldn't put his finger on it, but something had definitely changed between them overnight. He just hoped he could fix it.

Charlie took a deep breath as he stepped into the Sertori's living room. "All right, guys, go ahead and fill me in on Denman-Gate, what's going-"

The room fell deadly quiet at his entrance. Lewis immediately clicked off the news, which the group had been huddled around.

"Wow…" Charlie stopped in his tracks, taking stock of the solemn atmosphere in the room. His eyes flickered over to Callie, who had an expression of utter shock on her face as her eyes remained glued to the now-black screen. "The, uh, whole gang's here, huh?" He was surprised to see Cleo, Lewis, Bella, Will, and Rikki all present. A heavy weight set into the pit of Charlie's stomach as he looked at each of their faces. Something had happened. Something bad. "Except… where's Dad?"

"He's… in a meeting. I expect he'll be home soon." Rikki stepped forward. "Charlie, you should sit down."

"No." Charlie shook his head. "No more sit-down-Charlie talks. Just tell me what happened. Did the announcement go badly?"

"Denman announced." Rikki swallowed hard. "And she aired a video."

"A video?" Charlie's brow furrowed. "A video of what?"

"Oh Charlie…" Rikki closed her eyes tightly. "She… she-"

Wordlessly, as Rikki stammered, Callie reached for the remote and flipped back on the television. The news had been doing nothing but playing and replaying Denman's announcement since she'd given it.

"That's me…"Charlie froze as he recognized the image on the screen. Suddenly he couldn't breathe. "Holy shit." He exhaled, eyes wide as he watched the short video. He whipped around to look at the others. " _Me_?" He could barely force the word out as he shakily pointed at the television screen. "She… she told the world about _me_?" He clapped a hand over his mouth as his heart began slamming in his chest.

"She didn't say your name-" Bella offered, standing from her place on the couch.

"But people are figuring it out." Lewis stepped forward, crossing his arms. "No one seems to know you're here, though. Not yet. We're actually pretty lucky you were here for the full moon."

"I thought she couldn't release video?" Charlie looked to his mother frantically as he stammered over his words. "And how did she even _get_ that? That's me from just yesterday."

"She'd planted a camera." Will rubbed the back of his neck, grimacing at the stiffness of his joints.

"And she wasn't allowed to release the footage she had of us, we were underage and she'd _kidnapped_ us." Cleo closed her eyes in anger before continuing. "But, Charlie, you're of age. She _did_ obtain the footage illegally, but I don't think we're going to win that argument, the world is going _nuts_."

"It had to have been her that tampered with our sprinklers." Rikki had been pacing, deep in thought. "The repairman must have planted the camera. That's why the system cut on so many times while we were outside, how did I not put this together sooner?"

"And that's why the announcement was delayed." Lewis nodded, clenching his jaw. "She must have had the camera linked to a digital transmission directly to her recording devices. She delayed the presentation because she'd just gotten the footage and needed to edit it and build up a bigger audience."

"Guys, what do we do now?" Charlie's words hung in the air as each of their eyes fell back on the news report.

Everyone jumped as the front door flew open. Zane slammed it behind him, striding into the room angrily. "That _bitch_." His hands flew to his hips, practically shaking with frustration.

"You talked to her?" Rikki hurried to her husband, worried by his behavior.

"Yeah, I fucking talked to her." Zane said irritably, his eyes finally landing on Charlie, who was standing a few feet away from him, watching the video replay on the TV. Zane's stony expression cracked slightly. "Char…" He pulled his son in for a quick but bone-crushing hug. "You ok?" He raised his eyebrows, examining Charlie closely.

"Sure, I'm fine." Charlie managed a sort-of shrug, trying to sound convincing.

"Spill, Zane." Lewis spoke up. "What did she say?"

"Well, she had more than one camera planted." Zane rubbed at his temple with one hand. "And she wasn't interested in telling me where the others might be. Or how many of them there were. Are."

Cleo's hand flew to her mouth as her eyes darted around the living room, searching.

"Bottom line, though." Zane continued. "Is that she wants us, well, _Charlie_ specifically, to work with her. She wants to run tests on him, make appearances with him, etcetera. If we don't agree to cooperate she threatened to expose everyone else as mermaids. She gave us twenty-four hours to decide.

"No way." Charlie is not working with that woman." Rikki shook her head vehemently.

"That's what I told her." Zane sighed, leaning against the table wearily. "So we need to make a plan. Start figuring out our options before this gets out of control."

"We've been talking about that." Cleo spoke up. "We were thinking we should move? Central Australia, or out of the country?"

"Even if Denman doesn't expose us, odds are good we'll be discovered anyway." Bella rested her chin in her hand glumly. "It's not going to take people too long to figure it out."

Will nodded, crossing his arms. "She's right. People will be throwing water left and right, especially around Charlie. Plus, anyone who doesn't go out in the rain will be noticed."

"And we could dye our hair." Cleo raised a shoulder. "Change our looks? Go by different names?"

"That's a good idea." Rikki slid across the couch to grab a notebook and a pen. "What else?"

"Guys?" Charlie's voice disappeared among the group's heated suggestions. He cleared his throat before raising his voice. "Hey!"

All seven pairs of eyes focused on him as the room fell quiet.

"I want to work with her." Charlie said firmly, trying to sound more confident than he actually felt.

The room exploded with protests at Charlie's announcement. He held his hands up after several seconds, hushing them.

"Just… listen to me." He spoke slowly, surely, choosing each word carefully before speaking it. "This is what I want to do. And you have to admit, it's by far the best solution."

" _Is it_?" Zane said sarcastically, sucking in his cheeks as he tried to control himself.

" _Yes_." Charlie defended himself as he paced the room. "Look, she's already told the world that I'm a merman." He paused, swallowing hard. The word still felt so strange to say aloud. "There's nothing we can do about that. It's done. So I work with her; I cooperate." He lifted a shoulder, tilting his head to one side. "Maybe she'll actually help us. We could learn more about-"

"Lewis has already run any test we can think of." Rikki was still shaking her head.

"Not on me!" Charlie hit his chest slightly harder than he'd intended to. "No one has run a _single_ test on me yet, and-"

"No." Zane's voice cut through the room, though his tone was terrifyingly low. "I am not having this discussion, Charles. We have not worked our whole lives to protect our secret from this woman just to turn around and _help_ her."

"No, you haven't." Charlie answered levelly, pressing his lips together. "And I hope you can understand that's _exactly_ why I want to do this." He softened his tone as he continued, looking to each person in turn as he made his case. "She shouldn't get to win this, Dad. She'd love to tell the world about mom, Cleo, Bella, anyone else. She's offered their privacy in exchange for my cooperation, and I want to work with her. This is what I'm _going_ to do." He finished, his words strong. "I _am_ an adult. You can't stop me."

"An adult who lives under this roof." Zane stepped closer to his son, his hands firm on his hips.

"Maybe it's finally time for me to move into my own place, then." Charlie raised his voice as he matched his father's stance. "I _do_ know the family secret now, that's why you wouldn't let me move out before, right?"

"Oh, just _stop_ , you two." Rikki shouted. "Now!" She looked to each of them, her eyes narrowed in anger. "With all that's going on right now, do we think we _might_ be able to conduct ourselves like the adults we claim to be?"

Zane clenched his jaw in response before turning on his heel and marching out of the house. The door's slam echoed off the walls of the now-silent room.

"I'm sorry, mom." Charlie spoke quietly after a few moments of quiet. "But I want to do this. I'm _going_ to do this. Please, don't fight me." His eyes pled with hers. "At least think about supporting me?"

Rikki sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly as she walked to stand in front of her son. "Char, I will _always_ support you." She exhaled, her eyes searching his. "But this is all an awful lot to process, and you've only had a few _minutes_ to do so-"

"I've wanted to work with her ever since you told me she wanted our cooperation. Since you told us two days ago." Charlie's words drew a look of surprise from Callie. "But now, this confirms that it's what I need to do." He gestured to the television. "The only chance we have of ending up a semi-normal family again is if you guys can stay out of the spotlight. They'll get bored with me eventually. They won't get bored with five of us."

Silence spread across the room once more as each of them considered his words, some exchanging uneasy looks with others. Lewis seemed to be having a silent argument with Cleo, using only his eyes to plead with her. Finally, he closed his eyes for several seconds and spoke without meeting Cleo's laser-like gaze.

"I… can… reach out to her, Denman, if you want me to." He offered timidly.

"I can't believe you're _encouraging_ this." Rikki slammed her hand angrily on the wall as she turned to Lewis, who had gotten smacked on the arm by Cleo the moment the words had left his mouth.

"I'm not encouraging anything." Lewis placed a reassuring hand on Rikki's shoulder, removing it at lightning speed as she shot him a look that could melt steel. "But Charlie is right. He _is_ an adult. An adult whose life has changed completely overnight. This is what he wants to do; I'm just offering to set up the meeting. I kind of figure…" He tilted his forehead toward Rikki, lowering his voice slightly. "That it's in our best interest not to alienate each other. We've got to be united."

"Do it." Charlie stepped forward, shoving his hands into his pockets in an effort to look like he wasn't panicking inside. A flicker of guilt flared in his chest for several seconds, making his pulse quicken before it subsided somewhat. A grimness had set into his expression, making him look a full ten years older than his twenty.

"Ok?" Lewis waited patiently for Rikki's response, though he was still avoiding Cleo completely. "Is that alright?"

"Just… do it." Rikki threw her hands in the air, done with the conversation altogether.

"On it." Lewis ducked into the other room, dialing his phone as he went.

Charlie rubbed his temples as a slow throbbing set in behind his eyes. The guilty feeling was back, and this time it was stronger. His stomach twisted painfully as he looked at the expressions on his friends' faces. So much had happened. So much _was_ happening… he suddenly realized he had literally no idea what he should do next.

It seemed he was in good company. Each of the others was either lost in their thoughts or staring blankly at the silent television. Charlie's eyes fell on Callie, who was still sitting frozen in shock. He dropped onto the couch beside her, leaning his elbows forward on his knees.

Callie started, she hadn't noticed him approaching her. "Hey." She managed.

"Are you… alright?" Charlie asked her quietly, leaning in slightly.

"Am _I_ alright?" Callie replied incredulously before lowering her tone. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question? You're not really going to work _with_ that bitch?"

Charlie nodded. "It's what's best for everyone." There was a pain behind his eyes as he spoke the words, almost resigned.

"But is it what's best for _you_?" Callie tilted her head slightly to one side, concern growing for her friend as she realized that he was more upset than he wanted to let on.

Charlie, in that moment, felt an inexplicable desire to move closer to Callie as their eyes met. He let his shoulder lean on hers lightly as he continued. "I want to do my part. I need to." He raised a shoulder and dropped it, making his body jerk. "Our parents were able to keep this secret from her for most of their lives. Now, it's my responsibility to help them keep it." He sighed deeply, clearly lost in something else. "I need to talk to you." He stood abruptly and walked into the kitchen, swinging the door closed behind him.

Callie darted a look around the room, but no one seemed to be paying them any mind. She followed Charlie a few seconds later, praying he didn't want to talk about what had happened between them last night. It had been torture enough the first time. Did he remember? The thought almost terrified her enough to turn back, but she pushed through the kitchen door a second later.

She spotted Charlie on the far end of the room, though whatever she'd expected from him, it certainly wasn't this.

Tears glistened at the corners of Charlie's eyes as he turned to face her. Callie hadn't seen Charlie cry in years, not since he'd been a young child. Thought the tears didn't quite spill over, they were there. He stood with both arms crossed tightly, looking like he needed to talk so badly he might bust.

"What is it?" Callie whispered loudly as soon as she got close enough for him to hear her.

"This is my fault." A single tear spilled down Charlie's cheek as he made his confession. Embarrassed, he turned his back on her, hunching his shoulders to hide his face.

"What?" Callie couldn't image where this was coming from. "Char, you didn't know there was a camera-"

"My mom _told_ me to use the back door if I went out." Charlie was almost talking to himself more so than Callie. "The repairman had just arrived; he was there to fix the sprinklers because they'd been cutting on when they weren't supposed to be." He began pacing, his hands balling into fists at his sides, hitting against his legs angrily as he walked.

"Keep going, champ." Callie pushed, still failing to see the point of his frustration.

"That night…" Charlie spoke hurriedly. "The night we spent, you know, practicing changing back to human form quickly, remember that?"

"Of course I do." Callie nodded. "What about it?"

"Well…" Charlie was practically panting now as the words came flying out of his mouth. "When I got home and parked in the driveway the sprinklers were on. And what did I do? Did I go around back? No." He hit his leg hard with his fist, spinning to face Callie. "I ran straight through it and in through the front door. I thought it would be a good chance to practice…" He let his voice trail off, guilt becoming a throbbing pain in his chest.

"…And that's the video Denman showed the world." Callie finally put the pieces together, furrowing her brow.

"If I'd used the back door like I was supposed to, she wouldn't have had that video." Charlie wrapped his arms tightly around himself.

"Only for it to be a different one, though." Callie took a careful step closer to him. "You heard your Dad, she's got other footage, other cameras-"

"Yeah, I know that's what she _says_ , Cal." Charlie shook his head, leaning in at the waist. "But _think_ about it. She hasn't shown us one second of footage, or a single photograph to prove she has anything at all. No one has even found any of the other cameras she supposedly planted. I mean." He exhaled. "She had to delay her press conference to prepare my video, right? I heard my mom talking to yours about it a few minutes ago." He clenched his jaw briefly. "She _clearly_ didn't have anything else ready to go. And even if she _did_ …" Another thought occurred to him. "Why not show both? It would have only strengthened her case."

"Charlie, this is _not_ your fault, ok?" Callie reached for his shoulder, squeezing it tightly before letting her hand slide to his elbow. "Listen to me." She said gently. "Whether or not Denman has video of anyone else, she was going public. She was going to tell the world mermaids were real. Things were already changing before that psycho pulled such a low move. I can't believe she had cameras in our _homes_." She pulled Charlie's elbow toward her, wrapping him in a tight hug. "Our homes have always been safe spaces. You didn't know."

Charlie let his head drop heavily on Callie's shoulder. He breathed her in, closing his eyes as he inhaled. After all of the stress he'd been carrying over the last few days, it felt good just to be held by someone.

Charlie felt something else, something he'd been feeling off and on at different intensities all morning. It was strange, but he felt a connection to Callie that hadn't been there before. It was so strange, as if being close to her cooled a fire he hadn't even realized had been burning. But why? And why now?

"Um, Char?" Callie tapped his shoulder, her voice strained. "A little tight, bud."

"Oh, sorry." Charlie immediately released her; he hadn't realized just how tightly he'd been holding onto her.

"Charlie?" Lewis popped his head through the doorway. "Hey." He spotted him. "I just got off the phone with Denman. Are you, uh, still sure you want to meet with her?"

"Yes." Charlie answered quickly, before he could change his mind.

"Alright, then." Lewis's eyes darted from Charlie to Callie, clearly picking up on the all-too-obvious tension in the room. "I'll be right back."

"We should probably get out there." Callie nodded toward the living room before ducking through the door after Lewis, her cheeks flushing an increasingly familiar shade of pink.

Charlie sighed, feeling the beginnings of a headache start to build in his temples. The last think he wanted to do was have yet another serious sit-down talk. He was a _merman_ , and all he did was talk about it. He wanted, no, _needed_ the ocean.

"You'll get there." He exhaled as he followed his friends into the living room.

"Alright." Lewis clasped his hands together as Charlie joined the rest of the group. "We're all set to meet with Denman today at one."

"One? _Today_?" Zane bristled, crossing his arms. "That's damn quick, don't you think?"

"We're being proactive." Lewis spoke firmly. "She won't expect us to respond so quickly. And a few hours is plenty of time to come up with exactly what we want in return for Charlie's cooperation."

"I'll call my Dad." Zane clenched his jaw as he pulled his phone from his pocket, dialing as he moved away from the group, shaking his head.

"That's a good idea." Will paved, one hand running anxiously through his hair.

"Alright then, guys." Rikki crossed her arms, looking around the room. "Let's make a plan."


	11. Negotiating and Laying Down

The hours passed by quickly as the group, joined by Zane's father, Harrison, worked carefully on the talking points for their meeting with Denman. Tensions ran high as the group threw out suggestions to one another. After a while the roar of enthusiasm faded into a somewhat grim acceptance of what they were facing, and quiet took over the room.

Lewis's phone chirped from its place on the table, making Rikki jump. "She sent the address." He said as his fingers quickly plugged it into his phone. "She's having us meet her at the aquatic research center." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he looked to his friends. "A little on-the-nose, don't you think?"

"She'll have reporters there." Charlie grabbed a set of sunglasses from the side table, sliding them up into his curly hair. "We should be prepared for that. And mom-" He turned to Rikki, concern clear on his face as a thought occurred to him. "You shouldn't go. None of the mermaids should go." He looked to Cleo and Bella in turn. "Don't make it easier for her to expose your secrets. Stay home, we will tell you what she says."

"Charlie is right; I was thinking the same thing." Will nodded, looking to Lewis for confirmation, who agreed.

"But won't that look even more suspicious?" Bella furrowed her brow in thought. "If we don't show? Don't you think it'll throw up a red flag to her?"

"I don't care if it does." Lewis said forcefully, surprising her with his strong tone as his eyes locked on to hears in a laser-like gaze. "Now, you girls are my friends and you need to listen to me." He swallowed hard. "If her evil grand plan _does_ include revealing your secret... you're _not_ going to give her the satisfaction of doing it on her terms." He looked to each of them. "Let her start what ever rumors she wants, but stay out of the spotlight." A tightness gripped his throat as he looked at Cleo. "Please."

"You got it." Cleo squeezed her husband's shoulder reassuringly, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Lewis." Rikki agreed. "We'll be careful. We'll stay here."

Bella nodded, sharing a meaningful look with Will before heading into the kitchen. She gave him a slight nod before disappearing through the door. A nod that did not go completely unnoticed by the rest of the room.

Will shuffled his feet slightly, pretending not to notice the eyes that landed on him, each waiting to see what he would do next. Sheepishly, Will followed her, trying not to draw attention to himself as he slunk from the room.

"Well, at least _something_ good is coming from this situation." Rikki elbowed Cleo in the ribs. "Those two certainly seem to be... _rekindling_..."

Callie rolled her head to the side to catch sight of Charlie. "So, the kitchen seems to be the designated let's-talk-in-private room. Maybe we started a trend." Callie nodded toward the still swinging kitchen door as she forced a dry laugh, trying to get the smallest of grins from her friend.

"Yeah." Charlie said grimly, steeling his expression as butterflies kicked in his stomach. "Wish me luck." He felt like if he talked about any of this any more that he would lose it. All he wanted was for the stress to be lifted; to be able to enjoy his new abilities. He walked toward the back of the house, pausing to look back at Callie one more time before turning to disappear down the hall towards the back door.

"Good luck." Callie said to herself as she watched him go, feeling somehow as if she was saying goodbye to him for the last time.

"Alright, it's time, guys. He's here." Zane called from the hall, where he'd been keeping watch at the window.

Will and Lewis appeared a moment later, after saying their goodbyes to Cleo and Bella. Bella, Callie noticed, was blushing slightly as she stepped out of the kitchen after Will.

Lewis checked carefully, but it didn't appear like the reporters had caught on to Charlie's location just yet. They hurried to their cars. Zane and Charlie got into Harrison's SUV, which had just pulled up around back, and Lewis and Will climbed into Will's jeep.

"Hey, Char." Harrison called from the drivers seat, turning to reach a hand towards Charlie, who shook it hard.

"Hey Grandpa." Charlie gave an awkward wave as he sat back and buckled in, unsure of exactly what to say to his father's father next. He'd always considered them close, but this situation was something neither of them felt totally comfortable discussing easily just yet. Luckily, Zane began talking the moment the car door shut, allowing Charlie to tune out of the conversation and focus on the meeting until they were a couple blocks away from the research lab. Charlie breathed deeply, trying to keep himself cool and confident as they approached the institution's imposing main gate.

"Here we are." Harrison said grimly as he steered the vehicle toward the white security gate in front of the driveway.

"Charlie Bennett, meeting Linda Denman." Harrison said quietly to the attendant through the window, trying not to draw attention to the vehicle.

"Bennett..." The elderly gentleman scrolled down the list on the clipboard in front of him. "Charlie, you said?"

Harrison nodded, accepting the parking pass handed to him. He nodded his thanks as he pulled around to the building's side entrance.

"Son of a bitch." Zane muttered as they turned the corner.

Reporters were swarming out of the building and towards the car, having been clearly tipped off to their arrival. Their shouting only grew louder as they pulled up in front of the building, light bulbs flashing as reporters with microphones flashed toothy grins at Charlie in between questions.

"You two go ahead inside, quick." Harrison pulled in front of the door. "I'll be right behind you. I'm not sure if there's another entrance."

"Ready, Char?" Zane seemed almost nervous as he surveyed the sea of cameras.

"You bet." Charlie swallowed hard before following his father out of the SUV.

The roar of the crowd was almost similar to the brief sound Charlie heard when he dove into the water. Zane held Charlie close to his side, blocking the waves of people as he pushed his way towards the door. Hands reached out at them as they worked their way to the metal entrance; they clasped his sleeves and the cuffs of his pants as he walked, and Charlie winced as he felt someone yank out a few follicles of hair from his scalp. It took a few seconds to reach the door. Zane wrenched it open, pushing Charlie inside in front of him.

"Vultures." Zane muttered, straightening his tie as the pair adjusted to the sudden peace and quiet of the echoey building.

"Damn..." Charlie's eyes darted around him, taking in his surroundings. The calmness felt almost _too_ serene. Too serene to be real after all that chaos. "This place is massive. And press aren't allowed in here?

"No." Zane shook his head as he started down the hall. "This way."

Even though there were no reporters or cameras in sight, Charlie felt infinitely more self-conscious as he walked down the short hall to Denman's office. Scientists left and right didn't even try to hide their fascination as they gawked at Charlie. They leaned out their office doors, some grabbing their phones to take pictures as he walked brusquely by, trying to act like he didn't notice the attention. Their hushed whispers of excitement echoed off the linoleum as they nudged each other.

"Through here." Zane gestured grimly, casting his eyes along the hall condescendingly at the white-coated workers before pushing open Denman's office door.

Charlie took a deep breath as he walked into the clinically sterile blue office. Zane followed him inside, closing the door tightly behind them to shut out prying eyes.

Denman was ready, waiting for them behind a huge metal desk. The walls and floors were all a solid hospital-white, with nothing on display but a few awards and diplomas.

"Charlie." She smiled widely. She sat up a little taller, though she made no effort to move towards them. "Thank you so much for agreeing to cooperate in my further research regarding-"

"I haven't agreed to anything just yet." Charlie said firmly, lifting his chin slightly as he stared down at the scientist. He felt like he might might be playing a tad melodramatic, but he went with it anyway. What did he have to lose? "I'm only here to talk."

"Of course." Denman's smile had the faintest hint of a smirk in it as she gestured to a table and chairs on the far end of the office. "Have a seat gentleman. Let's talk about how we can begin to work out our-"

Zane rolled his eyes. "Oh, cut it out, Denman." He dropped unceremoniously into one of the four leather seats. "Let's lay it all out, I'm not here to be polite."

Denman raised an eyebrow, her eyes narrowing on Zane before sliding over to Charlie's. She tilted her head slightly as she spoke coolly. "Why don't Charlie and I discuss things one on one, then? Cut right to the negotiating of terms I'm sure you've all discussed. Who all was _at_ this discussion, hm? Lewis?" Her lip curled slightly. " _Rikki?"_

"You want me to leave him alone with you?" Zane snorted . "Nice try, D."

"No, Dad, she's right." Charlie crossed his arms, his eyes never wavering from the doctor's. "This is between the two of us. I can handle it."

Denman cast and appraising look over Charlie. "You _are_ different from your father, aren't you? He couldn't do anything without running for daddy's help." She shook her head mockingly, raising her shoulders. "I mean, Harrison _is_ on his way up here right now, isn't he?"

Zane clenched his jaw, angrily tapping his foot on the floor.

"Charlie's a grown man." Denman pursed her lips. "Don't you trust him?" Her head tilted to one side as she challenged Zane.

"I'll be just outside the door." After a long moment, Zane answered. He stood, leaning in close to Charlie. "Call if you need me." He shot one last vicious look at Denman before wrenching open the door. He slammed it so hard the walls on the frames on the wall shook in his wake.

"Well, aren't we glad he's gone." Denman said conversationally as she took a seat at her desk, gesturing for Charlie to take the opposing one. She flipped her blonde hair over one shoulder as she leaned forward on her elbows. "Charlie, let's chat."

"Let's." Charlie tried to hide his triumph. This was all going according to the plan he'd worked out with the others. Make Denman think that she had him alone, that she had an advantage. He'd been worried she wouldn't take the bait, but she'd behaved exactly like Zane and Lewis had assumed she would. Charlie sat down confidently, taking in a long satisfied breath. "So do you go first or should I?" He forced his voice to remain level as his heart felt like it might pound out of his chest.

"Why don't you go ahead." Denman kicked back, resting her elbows on the arms of her chair. "I'm always glad to listen to whatever Lewis and his mini think-tank are coming up with."

"Alright. My terms are simple." Charlie pushed back slightly, resting his elbows on the cool arms of his chair. After a moment to collect himself and a last deep breath, Charlie launched into the speech he'd been rehearsing in his head since they left the house. "You'll work with _me_. Me alone. You will leave everyone else out of it."

"Of course." Denman nodded.

"I mean it, though." Charlie didn't have to pretend that he was dead serious as the tone in his voice darkened. He had never meant anything more. "If you so much as mention my mother's name, or Cleo, or even Lewis, or anything about them I'll-"

"You'll what?" Denman cocked her head to one side, bemused.

"I'll stop working with you." Charlie promised. "And we will tell the world about what you did to the girls when they were kids."

"It wouldn't matter." Denman shrugged a shoulder, laughing to herself. "Everyone already knows what you are, your secret is out-"

"But yours isn't." Charlie spoke evenly, his voice strong. "No one knows how you obtained your initial research or data. And if they did..." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. "Sure, your research will still go down in history, but what will happen to you? Somehow I find it hard to believe that people will look at you with respect when they have found out that you have kidnapped people, stolen research, threatened kids, threatened my family..." He smirked, enjoying the pained expression beginning to take over Denman's face. "I can talk. I can have the media eating out of my hands. And I can ruin you."

Denman swallowed, though her face regained its stoic calm. "I can assure you, Mr. Bennet." She spoke with a practiced, though not altogether disingenuous calm. "It is in both of our best interests to trust each other. I gain nothing by lying to you."

"You're right. But the thing is, I've given you no reason not to trust me." Charlie shook his head slightly. "And you, well..." He raised his shoulders. "You're going to have to prove to me that you're worth putting my faith in."

Denman sighed, one hand absently tapping on the desk. "And what exactly is it you want from me then?"

"You're not just going to promise not to mention anyone else." Charlie said firmly, leaning forward on his elbows as he lowered his voice to a threatening level. "You, Denman, will actively work to protect them. And if anyone finds out anything about _anyone's_ personal life but mine?" He patted the desk hard, slightly harder than he'd meant to. "Your career is over. Your name will go down in history but your legacy will only be a disgrace."

Demens calm exterior cracked apart as her eyes shot open. "What? You can't be serious; with all the press that'll be surrounding you there's virtually no way of ensuring that their identities will be preserved or-"

"Exactly." Charlie leapt to his feet, slamming his hands on the desk in front of him days of built up tension seemed to burst out of him as he raised his voice. "I will do _exactly_ what you did to me, Denman. I will make exposing you and what you've done completely out of your control. I'll thrust _you_ into the spotlight without so much as letting you know to expect it." His chest heaved as he sucked in air. "My family has worked its ass off to keep the secret. You took that away from them and handed it over to the world without even blinking." He exhaled forcefully. "You didn't give me a choice, or even a warning. So at least consider yourself at an advantage you didn't give us." He sat back down and tried to force civility back into his voice. "Those are my terms. My only term, really. If the media finds out anything about my family or friends that they didn't want to get out? We release it all. My grandfather still has all of your early videos, too. One where you've got Lewis bound, gagged, and locked up. One where you're threatening the girls. The _sixteen_ year old girls-"

"I get it. Just stop talking, ok?" Denman stood, holding up one hand to stop his tirade as she closed her eyes in exasperation. She clenched her jaw, exhaling through her lower teeth as she composed her thoughts.

Charlie allowed the faintest hint of triumph show through his tone as he relished her defeat. "As long as we are clear, then."

"The thing we should emphasize, you know..." Denman spoke plainly, quickly dropping her proper and polite demeanor for her more authentic sneer. "Is that, no matter what terms we set, this partnership is really based on nothing but trust. If we don't trust each other this is going to be a _difficult_ process."

"Right." Charlie nodded one. "I definitely need to be able to trust you."

The blond doctor sat gingerly in her office chair, regaining her restrained composure. "Just as I have to be able to trust you."

"Me?" Charlie's eyebrows shot into his hairline. "Why wouldn't you trust me? I'm here, aren't I?"

Denman continued. "Part of this agreement involves you living outside the confines of a scientific facility, does it not?"

"Of course." Charlie shrugged. "I'm not living in some science lab."

"So I will be trusting that you won't just pack up and leave the country." Dunnmon lifted her chin.

Charlie scoffed. "I'm not planning on going anywhere, D. You keep your end of our bargain, I'll keep mine." His eyes met hers. "I'm not you."

"Well then." Denman sat a little straighter as she reached for a manila folder on her desk. "I'll keep an eye out for your people, and let's chat specifics."

* * *

Zane and Harrison wore matching blank expressions as Denman's office door swung open to them a while later. Charlie's face was unreadable, though the slightest hint of a glimmer sparkled in his eyes.

"And?" Zane asked, his eyes darting behind Charlie into the office behind him.

"She agreed to everything." Charlie said tiredly, stretching his arms over his head. "We are set." He couldn't keep the grin from spreading across his face as he met his father's eyes.

Relief washed over Zanes face as he visibly exhaled. "Excellent." He threw his head back and breezed past Charlie into the office.

"Treaty agreed on, white flag waved, peace between everyone, yadda yadda." Denman rolled her eyes as the men walked inside. "Have a seat gents. We'll recap the terms, and then we can really get things started."

Harrison ignored her, speaking directly to Charlie as he approached his grandson. "And? You feel good about everything?"

"You bet." Charlie nodded confidently. In spite of everything that was going on, the biggest thing he felt washing through him was relief. Whatever was going to happen next, he was ready for it to get started.

"Charlie will be spending the rest of the day with me." Denman spoke as she thumbed through a stack of paperwork.

"What?" Zane stepped forward angrily. "Charlie, I am not-"

"It's okay, Dad." Charlie held up one hand to quiet his father. This, admittedly, hadn't been part of their original plan; they'd wanted to start tomorrow. Give themselves the rest of the day off. It had been Denman who'd insisted on the immediate session. "It's just until tonight and you can stay and watch if you want to. Any of you can."

"Yes." Denman said stiffly. "A term Charles wasn't interested in negotiating."

"We are just going to take a few measurements, get a few pictures." Charlie shrugged. "That sort of thing. Stuff she can use to get started."

"And Lewis is invited to both participate in and monitor my research." Denman spoke again.

"Just..." Zane's voice faded as he clearly weighed whether or not to press the point. "Just get started so we can get out of here." He said after a long moment of silence, turning to glare at the wall.

"I'll... text Lewis then." Charlie looked to Harrison, who didn't object. Instead, He seemed to be keeping a concerned eye on his son.

"We'll be using my private lab." Denman slid a white card out of her lab coat pocket. "Meet me there in 30 minutes." She used her thumb to press the card to Charlie's chest. "Your face will be your ticket in, tell anyone accompanying you to use the code 5498."

Charlie nodded, clumsily taking the card and tucking it into his shirt pocket.

Denman dropped behind her desk, sliding an outline of the terms she'd discussed with Charlie across the desktop to Harrison. "Quite basic, really. At least, as basic as things can be in this situation." She was saying as Charlie tapped out a quick message telling Lewis where to go. He darted a look at Zane, who was pointedly looking out the window, refusing to acknowledge anything going on around him. Charlie cleared his throat, gesturing to the room that he was stepping out to make a phone call while they wrapped up.

For a moment, Zane looked ready to follow him, but forced himself to wait in place, resuming his stony gaze out the window. Harrison jingled his keys, following Charlie out the door to head out to get the car.

"Hey, Cal." Charlie spoke quickly, hoping the press wouldn't find him out there. He didn't see anyone else around, but he ducked into an empty office just in case.

"I'm going to give you an address." Charlie paced slightly. "I'm working with Denman this afternoon. Your dad is coming, and mine will be there too."

"Okay. Callie said. "That sounds...fun?" She cleared her throat. "And?"

"I need you there too." Charlie said lamely. Of course he wanted to her there. Surely she knew that. Somehow, he'd thought she would have jumped at the chance to be on the inside of the situation.

"And... you need me there because..." Callie's eyebrows could almost be heard rising through the phone's speaker.

"Because I need _you_." The words escaped Charlie's mouth in a breath, making him stop in his tracks. "I mean-" He stammered. "I assumed... I just thought you'd want to be in on what's happening." He made a hard fist with one hand, hitting his legs frustratedly as he paced.

"Oh." An awkward silence followed. Callie swallowed hard. "Thanks for the invite, Char, but... I think I'll sit this one out."

"You're not..." Frown lines darkened Charlie's face as he processed her answer. "Oh, okay." He cleared his throat, suddenly all too aware of the awkward silence that was dominating the conversation. "I'll just, call you later and tell you about it then."

"Sounds good." Callie's voice finally came over the line. "Be careful, Char." Her voice hit a minor chord as she ended their talk.

Charleys eyes fell to the screen of his phone, still lit up with Callie's picture on the screen. She looked so much younger on his phone, though the pic had only been snapped a year ago. Charlie sighed as he clicked off the phone and turned to open the office door.

"Oh!" A startled brunette jumped as Charlie walked straight into her.

"Sorry!" Charlie hurriedly picked up a few of the files that had flown out of her hands at their impact.

"What were you doing in my office?" The girl crouched down next to him, carefully gathering her work. "We have a very strict privacy policy here-"

"I know, I'm sorry." Charlie stood, shoving his hands into his pockets sheepishly. "I just needed to make a phone call to a friend of-"

"Oh my god." Eyes shooting open wide, the girl jumped to her feet, dropping her papers everywhere. "You're Charlie Bennett." Her hand clasped his, shaking it enthusiastically. "We've been so excited to host you here, the _advances_ we'll make together in the scientific community are unprecedented, really-"

"Yeah, um... good to meet you too." Charlie pulled his hand back, trying to hide his slight grimace as she gushed over him. "...And you are?"

"Oh! Sorry." She giggled, shyly tucking her chestnut hair behind one ear. "I'm Hannah. Linda's lab assistant. Well..." She shrugged a shoulder sheepishly. "Really I like to think of us as partners. She's taught me everything I know."

"I wouldn't brag about that too loudly." Charlie spoke too bluntly, immediately snapping his mouth shut.

"Hey now..." Hannah shook her head, though her smile never faded from her face. "She's really not that bad. Honestly, the woman is _passionate_ about her work, and she may have made a _few_ mistakes when she was much younger, but she's an incredible scientist. I'm just so excited to get started, I'll be working with you _very_ closely at her lab." She walked with Charlie down the hall to Denman's office, never taking a breath. "So I guess I'll be seeing you in just a bit, right?"

"We're done here." Zane breezed out of the office door just before Charlie reached it, catching his son by the elbow as he passed. "Come on. Dad is pulling the car to the private exit."

Charlie stumbled after his father, barely managing to stammer a goodbye to Hannah. They soon reached the nondescript black door that led to the side exit, where Harrison was just arriving.

"Come on." Zane pushed Charlie out the door in front of him, covering him with a protective arm just in case during the four or five steps into the vehicle. "Who were you talking to? Paparazzi?"

"No, Denman's assistant." Charlie slid across the backseat. "Is her lab far?"

"Not terribly." It was Harrison who eventually spoke up, his tone easy as he glanced at his son and his grandson in the rearview mirror. 'I'm just glad to get away from Linda; she's awful.

"You're not kidding." Charlie glanced over at Zane, whose expression had resumed its grim glare, this time out the window.

* * *

Guilt clamped at Callie's stomach as she stared vacantly at the wall in front of her. She'd been stretched out on her back for the last hour, just staring up at her ceiling. She started as someone rapped on her door sharply.

"Are you coming?" Lewis poked his head into her room, rubbing tired eyes with one hand as his other typed on his phone. "I am leaving in five, meet me in the–"

"I'm not going, dad." Callie did her best to sound nonchalant, grabbing clumsily for a magazine to flip through.

"No?' Lewis's eyes flickered up from his phone.

"Nah." Callie shrugged one shoulder. "Sounds hella boring, you know?"

"Boring?" Lewis shoved his hands in his pocket, his phone momentarily forgotten. "Are you... are you doing alright? With everything?" He tried to adopt an easy tone as he spoke to his daughter.

"What?" Callie frowned. "Of course, Dad. I'm not the one in the spotlight."

"I know that." Lewis took a casual step closer to her bed. "It's just, I guess I'd thought you and Charlie had become pretty good friends... you sure you don't want to come with me?"

"Completely." Callie looked up from the page. "Honestly, Dad. I just don't feel like it."

"Alright." Lewis gave one last hard look at his daughter before turning to leave. He could tell something was bothering her, but if she didn't want to spend time at Denman's lab, he certainly wasn't going to try to convince her. He shivered slightly. He wanted his daughter as far from that woman as she could be.

* * *

It felt like only a few seconds passed before Charlie found himself walking into yet another white building. He was flanked by Zane, Lewis, and Will, who had relieved a worn-out Harrison. They acted as shields as Charlie hurried from the car to the door though it turned out the protection was unnecessary, as no reporters seemed to know they were there.

They were directed down a hall and to Denman's lab, which occupied an entire wing of the facility. "Wait here." Their guide instructed. "Linda will be down shortly."

Zane, Will, and Lewis resumed their heated discussion about the situation as Charlie began to check out the space. It wasn't anything special, just a regular lab with a large, clear water tank taking up one whole wall. In spite of all he'd been through today, Charlie couldn't help but be excited at the prospect of getting in that water.

All four sets of eyes shot to the door as a crew of people burst into the room and began scattering around the space.

"I want four of you on either side of the tank." A tall man wearing a head set directed people to their places. "Lighting, be sure to focus on the pool-"

"Excuse me?" Zane blocked his way, placing a hand on the man's chest. "What exactly do you think you're doing in here?"

"Setting up." The man pushed past Zane and resumed his directions, hardly missing a beat.

"Oh good." Denman breezed into the room, flashing everyone a dazzling smile. "Everyone's here." Her eyes flickered over the room, finally landing on Charlie. "Ah, Charlie. Or do you prefer Charles? Chuck?"

"Charlie." He rolled his eyes as he placed his hands on his hips.

"Charlie." Denman set down her clipboard and brief case before walking over to him. Her heels clicked pertly on the hard floor as she strutted. "We're going to start with a basic transformation for our video cameras. Then, we'll have you get out, dry off real quick, and we'll do it a few more times for the photographers, yeah? Then we'll re-light and shoot you drying off at a more flattering angle than the one we're lit for now." She shot a look at the man who was directing the photographers. "Derek, did you meet Charlie?"

"Charmed." The man nodded in Charlie's general direction before resuming his job.

"Don't mind him." Denman laughed. "He's just stressed because we called his boys in with so little notice. He'll warm up."

"Yeah..." Charlie wasn't paying much attention to her as he watched everyone bustling around him. "And you need all this equipment? Just for a few tests?"

"Oh, sweetie." Denman shook her head slightly, shooting Charlie a painfully sweet smile. "I'm not doing any _tests_ today." She gave a self-satisfied sigh as she jotted a couple notes on a sheet of paper. "Today, we're, shall we say... _documenting_."

"So..." Charlie's nerves kicked back in so hard he felt as if he'd been kicked. He was beginning to understand what she meant.

"So..." Denman continued. "I'm taking video, pictures, you'll be interviewed, we'll be putting together a small stockpile of footage to send out to the press, etcetera." She pushed her glasses back up her nose with the end of her pen. "Want a bit of free advice, Charles? If there's anyone you need to make peace with about this whole situation, do it right now. Because by tomorrow morning people are going to know everything there is to know about you."

Charlie's head swam as Denman clicked away to check on a few things before beginning. "This is it." He muttered to himself. Cameras clicked as men tested the lighting and few of them bothered to conceal their excitement as they gawked at Charlie.

"Charles? We're ready for you." Derek gestured for Charlie to climb the few steps to the top of the clear-walled tank. "I'll count you in."

"Just dive in for this first one." Denman approached him as he climbed. "Stay underwater while you change, yeah?"

Charlie nodded numbly as he lined up his toes with the edge of the drop. "Stay under while I change." He repeated to himself. "I can do that." He realized that he was clenching his fists so tightly that his fingernails were digging painfully into his hands. Cameramen lined up along every foot of the tank, getting ready to record him from every conceivable angle.

"Alright then, Charles." Derek called. "Get ready... and dive in three... two... one."

Charlie closed his eyes as everything stilled. In that split second, an odd silence washed through him as he pushed off. Everything came rushing back to him the second his knees extended, no way he could go back now. The roar of the room was hushed a second later, as the cool water began to feel comfortable again.


End file.
